By Nigel Maxwell

Tisdale area farm sells for $26.5 million

Oct 6, 2016 | 6:00 AM

The ink is still drying on a farm sale which could be one of the largest in Canada’s history.

Miner Creek Farms near Tisdale has been sold to an Alberta Hutterite colony for $26.5 million.

Ted Cawkwell with Remax in Saskatoon, who negotiated the deal, said it’s “definitely one of the largest sales in the province’s history. I can’t say 100 per cent affirmatively if there ever has been a larger one.”

Cawkwell said the deal was not a case of a farmer leaving a struggling industry.

“Farming has been tremendously profitable the past number of years, and the past four or five years we’ve seen farm land values double because farm receipts are so high,” he said.

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The farm land sprawls over 7,800 acres southeast of Tisdale.

Cawkwell said the sale price is not the only thing that makes this story unique.

“The unique thing about this sale is that it wasn’t just for the farm land…this sale actually included the grain storage facilities, the shop, all of the equipment and actually the crop standing in the field which I’ve never heard or seen before,” he said.

Miner Creek Farms was started by Sam Rey, a Swiss immigrant, who began buying land around Tisdale in 2007. He initially began with 20 to 25 quarter sections.

paNOW attempted to contact Rey for comment but was told he is out of country, possibly in South America.

The Hutterite colony would not comment publicly but said they’re excited to have a successful enterprise to work with, rather than starting from scratch.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell