Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall says the agricultural sector will help the province weather precipitously declining oil prices.
He told the Western Equipment Dealers Association meeting in Regina last week that the government is looking realistically at the challenge of low oil prices as it prepares its March 18 budget.
A barrel of U.S. crude was selling for less than $50 late last week, while the 2014-15 budget assumed a price of $92 per barrel. However, he also said Saskatchewan has been in this position before. In 2009, oil dropped from more than $120 per barrel to $38, and that was coupled with a collapse in potash prices and no sales.
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The private sector responded by creating jobs and the province pulled through.
“We are in a strong position to meet the challenges that face us because of agriculture, to a great degree,” Wall said.
Oil and potash get the coverage, but agriculture is an unsung hero, he added.
“It’s a rock star in terms of our economy,” he said.
Wall said nearly twice as many people work in agricultural primary production than in oil and gas and mining combined.
As of November, 42,000 Saskatchewan residents worked in agriculture compared to 27,400 in the other industries.
In the agricultural value-added sector, 7,000 people work for 300 companies to represent the largest manufacturing segment in the province, he added.
Wall said the fastest growing countries are looking to Saskatchewan for food security.
For example, India bought 79 percent of its lentils and 61 percent of its peas from 18,000 Saskatchewan farmers in 2013.
He said people often talk about the need for mega-projects.
In 2014 there were two, he said: “$4.5 billion was the first one when Saskatchewan farmers went seeding, and $1.1 billion in the fall when they took the crop off. And guess what? It will happen again next year.”
karen.briere@producer.com
