Some Alberta ranchers are hoping a boost in tourism will help keep their family farms going for another generation, although the accommodations may seem a little quaint.
When Brianna Morrison bought five old grain bins for her southern Alberta ranch, she had no intention of ever using them to store grain or any other crop.
She quietly bought them at an online auction and began a side project to turn each of the two-story metal containers into hotel rooms.
Saddle Hill Ranch Cabins opened in July with containers located in a valley overlooking the Castle River on Morrison Ranch near Pincher Creek in southwestern Alberta. Each unit has a name, including “Cattleman”, “Track Boss” and “Wrangler”.
If you watched Yellowstone and dreamed of staying on a farm with cows, converted grain silos can provide insight into life on the Canadian prairies.
With two beds and one bath, they cost about $300 a night. They've been booked almost all summer, Morrison said.
“It was the best we could have dreamed of, just starting out and discovering how quickly word had spread and how busy we had been so far,” said Morrison, who came up with the idea after seeing converted grain bins while traveling around the United States as a rodeo competitor.
New Ranch Income
Converting old grain bins into guest houses had its challenges, including obtaining township approval for the unconventional venture.
For Morrison, the project took several years of planning and then construction. (She had only one child when she started this venture.) Installing windows, doors and interior walls was a challenge due to the round metal walls. It was necessary to carry out plumbing, heating and electrical work, as well as install the necessary utilities and services in a relatively remote area of the pastures.
As many Canadian ranchers look to diversify their incomes and make farming life more attractive to the next generation, some have turned to agritourism and converted unused grain bins into hotel rooms.
The entire project is aimed at helping diversify the ranch's income and ensure that her children are interested and able to eventually take over the farm. Morrison and her husband now have three children under the age of four, including a baby born this summer.
The issue of succession has never been more pressing in the country as farmers age and the number of family farms declines.
Morrison is a third-generation rancher and says she wants her children to eventually take over the family farm. “It was very, very important to me,” she said.
“They may have other ideas for this place and want to continue it and make it theirs and grow on it. And I hope that that too can come with the legacy of this ranch,” said Morrison, who works in agricultural banking in addition to having horses and cattle on the farm.
Difficulties with continuity
It projects that by 2033, 60 percent of farmers will be over 65, representing one of the largest leadership transitions in the country's history. RBC Economics.
In addition, according to RBC Economics and Statistics Canada.
Andrea Gruza, a farmland investor at Bonnefield Inc., estimates about $300 billion worth of farmland will change hands over the next decade as aging farmers sell their properties or pass them on to their children.
The province has released its final harvest report for the season. While conditions varied in Alberta, it said the weather helped improve yields, but regions may enter the winter with dry soils.
Succession is a particular challenge in agriculture due to the rising cost of farmland, income instability from year to year, and the rural lifestyle may be unattractive to younger generations.
The looming historic generational transition is “one of the most pressing issues in the agriculture industry right now,” according to Rebecca Purk-Stephenson, a professor at the University of Alberta who has studied how farmers are dealing with succession planning.
Some people want to farm forever because it's part of their identity after decades of farming, she says, while soaring land values complicate matters.
“Once you put in a lot of money, it can make life difficult for families,” she said.
In her research, Purk-Stephenson begins to explore how agritourism can shape farming culture and help attract the next generation to farming. Some farmers see benefits in this, while others may see it as risky.
“For current farm owners who have been farming their whole lives, this can be something completely foreign to their skill set — marketing, hospitality and education,” she said.
Maintaining farm viability
Succession was a top concern for Cindy Marr and her husband when they converted three grain bins into hotels on their beef farm near Waterton Lakes National Park in southwestern Alberta last year.
The trio of guest houses, Twin Butte Silos, were fully booked this year from this spring until this fall, welcoming guests from as far away as China, New Zealand and Germany.
“I grew up on a grain farm, so I always liked the idea of grain silos,” Marr said.
Marr has two children in their 30s, and she says she wants to help ensure the ranch can be passed down but is large enough for both of them to make a living with their families.
“Just another way to stay in the area and keep it vital.” – said Marr.
Six generations of the family have lived on the land, where more than 300 head of cattle now graze.
Marra's daughter-in-law Payton hopes to one day be part of the family farming business. For now, she works as a paralegal, and her husband is an energy engineer.
Nearly half of the country's farmers have a second job outside of the farm, according to 2021 Statistics Canada data.
“You often hear people say there is no money on the ranch. It really depends on the situation, doesn't it? It's something that doesn't stay the same all the time,” Payton said, sitting with her 11-month-old daughter on her lap in a gazebo with a grain bin where guests can use the outdoor seating area.
“More and more, you can’t just be a rancher,” she said. “The dream is to own a ranch, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”
