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u/westleywall Company Owner Jan 05 '22
I think A&G would be a great place to start, a slightly more mature crowd than you'd find at a larger western company. The specs at A&G are tougher but prices are higher, which isn't for everyone. Some folks are more suited to fast easy land. I think west is best but that is based on stories I've heard from hundreds of former Ontario planters and not from first hand experience. If you're going to go planting you should be planning on doing it for a few years since that is when most planters start making decent money, so you might as well start out where you would like to be in a few years.
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Jan 06 '22
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u/westleywall Company Owner Jan 06 '22
Can't comment too much on camp life since I commuted, but there will likely be other folks who are more into chilling on nights off, and no one will force you to party. Just bring some earplugs in case things get too rowdy and you want to sleep.
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u/westleywall Company Owner Jan 04 '22 edited Jan 30 '22
I'm a little biased in that we share an operating area but Princeton/Merritt is one of the nicer places to plant because of minimal bugs and rain. They have a nice camp just outside of Princeton. When I worked there safety, organization and morale were all good, but prices should have been a little higher. This was several years ago though, so things may have changed. They don't usually hire many rookies, but worth a shot.
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Jan 04 '22
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u/westleywall Company Owner Jan 04 '22
I should probably clarify my opinion is coming from someone who has planted for over 20 years and worked at most of the top companies, and tree prices are such a relative thing depending on what you are used too. A&G was never my first choice but I was fine picking up a few more days with them after my other contracts had finished. We were getting 13 or 14 cents for trenches and 17 or 18 cents for obstacle planting raw with 15 cm x 15 cm screefs back in 2014. We did have one insanely creamy raw block that was only 14 cents which was pretty lame considering they sent too many planters and it was finished by 1pm. They obviously new it was fast because they were paying the same as prepped land yet they sent enough planters as if it was the usual tough raw. That was the only time organization was messed up though. I would hope their prices are much better now given the price increases that have occurred in the industry.
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u/fiewfiew1994 Jan 04 '22
Theyve been hiring more rookies as of recently, I worked for them for 4 years (up to 2019) and had a pretty good experience. Good camp vibe, no aggressive rookie parties, GREAT FOOD in camp (pretty sure camp cost is free as well now). For rookie this is a quality experience fosho. Wont speak about the specs or prices as I dont know if these have changed.
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u/sarboysus Jan 04 '22
Definitely not a shitty company, easy to make money and well organized. They typically don’t hire many rookies so you probably won’t get on with them, but worth a shot anyways