Took a trip to Dawson Creek a little over a week ago to conduct some investigations. Got to see some wheat, pea, and canola harvest going on while working. They are experiencing above average moisture this year so have had a pretty good hay crop. Saw many cow calf operations, mostly red and white colored with a few blacks, and one good sized feed lot.
The big education I received was what was happening in the "Oil patch"of the Canadian natural gas deposits and oil sands. Imagine small towns exploding in size, new industrial buildings for fracing, oil fields services, site cleanup and drilling. New hotels and restaurants built in just a couple years. Imagine every hotel parking lot with 7 fully equipped pickup and large industrial trucks for every 1 car packed full everynight and large truck traffic going 24/7 in all directions. Imagine a huge population of hardworking men, many in their 20s with minimal skill sets making close to six figure salaries, it is a modern day gold rush. Well you don't have to imagine it just go there and see it, the dollars involved are staggering. It made me appreciate our Midwest ethanol industry and want to encourage my neighbors to support it. Ethanol is and will continue to be a key to the economic vitality of our small communities in Iowa. It won't be pretty to see these northern Canadian town if the resources run out and it makes me wonder about my local communities if ethanol takes a dive.
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