Jim;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope the rains have come to your area in sufficient measure to get the crop going okay.
The BSE wreck took out a lot of BC ranchers - exactly how many I can't say Jim - but a lot of the smaller ones are gone now and in the ensuing mess the government tightened up on regulations making it almost impossible for smaller farms to keep say half a dozen beef and sell them locally for slaughter anymore. My sister used to do that and can't any longer for instance.
If we can produce and export finished goods Jim, then the labor takes place at home.
The whole pipeline mess between BC and Alberta is an extension of that too in many ways as there used to be 4 or 5 bigger refineries in the Vancouver area, now there's one. When someone else is refining that oil and selling it back to us, we lose all that employment and then end up paying the aforementioned $4.32 or so for a gallon of diesel.
The math gets pretty ugly when you're paying that for fuel and everything you touch gets moved by truck, does it not Jim? How much of an effect would another dollar per gallon of diesel have on your operation Jim, or Sam's or any other family sized operation?
Anyway, again if we can figure out a way to continue to work together as good neighbors - the way its been for the past 150 plus years - I'd suggest the mutual benefits would outweigh the negatives. As always though, time will tell if the collective "we" are able to do so. I for one fervently hope so.
All the best to you and yours as we head into summer Jim.
Dwayne
