BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota

Subject: BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota
From: Arnie
Date: 28 Sep 03 - 09:36 AM

Strange but true! British farmers are being encouraged to run farms in South Dakota. Fed up with EU red tape, milk quotas, low prices etc. Brit farmers are looking to get out of the UK farming scene. South Dakota is suffering from an exodus of farming families - apparently it is pretty hard working the land and children are not following their parents into farming. Many farms, according to The Times, are left deserted. So, the solution is to get the Brits re-populating the S Dakota farmlands. Some are already there and others are planning to join them. Apparently winters are pretty bleak and the wind blows most of the year so it's not going to be all plain sailing. Still, anything to get away from EU red tape! As an added incentive, they've all been promised green cards...

Subject: RE: BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 28 Sep 03 - 02:54 PM

What about Scots? Much of Scotland is as "bleak" as the Dakotas. Something to think about, all of Canada is North of both North and South Dakota.

Subject: RE: BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 28 Sep 03 - 03:23 PM

Much of Canada's population is in the Toronto area (latitude about mid-South Dakota) and in the Montreal area (latitude mid-North Dakota).
So "all of Canada" is not north of the Dakotas.

Subject: RE: BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota
From: Metchosin
Date: 28 Sep 03 - 03:26 PM

Gee maybe not as bleak pdq, a lot of my husbands family, Scots all, migrated out of the desolation of the Dakotas to supposed greener pastures in Saskatchewan before the depression of the 30's. Bit of history repeating itself.

Subject: RE: BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 28 Sep 03 - 04:07 PM

The several Scots in my ancestry skipped the cold climes and went straight to northern California. No dummies there.

Subject: RE: BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Sep 03 - 06:13 PM

Plenty of dumb Scots and English in the Dakotas who never made their way to California though.

Presumably, the thread was started by Arnie because he read or heard of this or a similar (more recent?) report by the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2815813.stm

Someone should tell them that the reason why there are so many vacant farms (East River) and ranches (West River), is because the Canadian and American farmers and ranchers have all emigrated to South America, for the same reasons they would be emigrating to South Dakota.

What goes around comes around, eh?

Someone should also tell them that South Dakota isn't exactly known as a dairy farming paradise...

Subject: RE: BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota
From: mg
Date: 28 Sep 03 - 06:45 PM

dairy farming paradise is SW Washington and NW Oregon..

I think one of the answers to the Palestinian land problem is to give massive immigration to those who will farm using low water techniques...I drove through Eastern Washington which is lots of land and no people.....

irrigation water...

mg

Subject: RE: BS: Brit migrant farmers to S Dakota
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 28 Sep 03 - 07:25 PM

The Western third of the U.S. (and Alaska) are largely owned by the U.S government, most managed by the BLM. Learn that name and find out more about this agency. Most of the open land you see in Washington in a not available for farming.The Eastern third of Colorado and almost all of North and South Dakota could be farmed, but the American Indian population would not be happy and neither would most conservationists. Me included.