[unclebilly]

I am 25 miles SE of Calgary.

1 mile X 1 mile is 640 acres which is a section. A 1/4 section is 160 acres which is 1/2 mile x 1/2 mile. Alberta was surveyed around the turn of the century, before the metric system was en vogue so land is still measured in acres up here. I have roughly 40 acres of marshy area that won't sustain a crop (usually too wet) and the soil is alkali (too basic) so these are in prairie grass.

Race track is out - my MD (County) is totally against this. They have pretty much shut down the track at Alderside that was built without their blessing. All of the other track builds have gone sideways because of inability to get MD blessing / zoning amended. I would love to do a race track themed housing community - sort of like the air ranch in Okotoks. It's funny that the MD is ok with air strips but not race tracks.

I am an engineer with an oil well service co so I am looking for some secondary income.

Christmas trees are an idea, a tree farm is a nice tax shelter (10 years of losses before first return). We have planted around 5000 trees so far.

I have heard that hemp can be very lucrative and the government is issuing licenses to grow it but I don't want to attract that kind of attention or run that profile.

I have neighbors with alpacas, other neighbors with elk, other neighbors with mixed farms. You need several sections to make a living as a farmer these days. If I could get a combine, a swather, a bailer and a seeder, I know I could gross $20 - $40k / year on barley and canola but that equipment ain't cheep.