LAST CATTLE FRONTIER TRAVELS TO ALBERTA

Representatives from The Last Cattle Frontier, a project creating a market for farmland in east central Saskatchewan, will travel to Alberta January 24th to 26th to recruit ranchers to relocate to Saskatchewan.

"The Last Cattle Frontier is getting the message out: Saskatchewan is a very good place to invest, work and live," Deputy Premier and Rural Development Minister Clay Serby said. "Their success is reflected in the number of ranchers who have already relocated to Saskatchewan as a result of previous delegations to Alberta. It has brought new families to our province, all of whom add to the strength and success of our rural communities."

Approximately 100 families have relocated to east central Saskatchewan from other provinces and Europe since the project was initiated five years ago. Local beef producer Geoff Rutledge, who moved with his family to Yorkton from Sunnynook, Alberta in 2002, will accompany the group on the upcoming trip to Alberta.

"My wife and I were offered the opportunity to move to Saskatchewan to manage a ranch in the Dubuc area. We were skeptical at first, but chose to make the move," Rutledge said. "After three years of managing a ranch for someone else, we invested in our own property near Moosomin. We decided to stay in Saskatchewan because we see opportunities here for our family that don't present themselves in other places of the country."

The delegation will visit Fort Macleod, Olds College and Vermillion College with the message that affordable land, well-suited to cattle production, is available in east central Saskatchewan.

The Last Cattle Frontier is a partnership project of the Good Spirit, South Parkland and Yellowhead REDAs. In 2005, the project was approved for $9,000 through Saskatchewan Rural Development's REDA Enhancement Fund, which provides cost-shared funding for regional project development.

The group has been encouraging Saskatchewan farmers who are interested in selling their land to list publicly in a newspaper advertisement. A recent land listing saw 11 area farmers respond within one day of its establishment, representing 5,600 acres of land available for purchase.

"The benefits of this project are two-fold: we have families wanting to move into our rural communities, and farmers and ranchers looking to retire have potential buyers," Yellowhead REDA Agri-business Project Manager Michelle Andrews said. "Great results can be achieved through partnership."

For more information on The Last Cattle Frontier, visit www.lastcattlefrontier.com.

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For More Information, Contact:

Donna Rehirchuk Rural Development Regina Phone: (306) 787-2359