Scrounging for food | Heavy snow cover has made it difficult for deer to find food, and weak animals attract predators
As the worst of winter blankets Saskatchewan, wildlife officials are concerned about some animal populations. Deer are a particular concern, with a large snow pack and extremely cold temperatures placing undue stress on the animals. It’s too early to predict a mortality rate, but a larger than normal winterkill is likely if the situation doesn’t […] Read moreStories by Dan Yates
Institute helps feed innovators get off the ground
Colleen Christensen can’t tell you all of the details of her work — they’re confidential. But there’s a good chance that if you’ve heard about an innovative new livestock feed, it’s come across her desk at the University of Saskatchewan’s Feeds Innovation Institute. Wheat dried distillers grain, a by-product of ethanol production, and meal from […] Read more
Meat consumption linked to global phosphorus use
McGill University research | Phosphorus not only input to increase
The results of a study that links increased meat consumption to the growing global demand for phosphorus didn’t surprise Genevieve Metson. She said her findings illustrate the role diet can play alongside efficient farming and waste management to protect waterways and manage the Earth’s non-renewable supply of mined phosphorus for fertilizer. “It’s not that surprising […] Read moreLand leasing won’t hurt ag research
University of Saskatchewan | Land leased for commercial and residential development will offset budget shortfall
A University of Saskatchewan initiative to lease hundreds of acres of land it owns in Saskatoon shouldn’t disrupt its agricultural research, say school officials. They also say the move isn’t related to a budget shortfall at the university totalling tens of millions of dollars. The U of S has identified more than 900 acres of […] Read moreAll that moisture brings something else to fields: weeds
New weed survey Wet fields in 2012 kept Saskatchewan farmers out of fields and let weeds thrive, seeding issues for the 2013 canola crop
A survey conducted last year confirms what Saskatchewan farmers already knew: wet weather contributed to one of the weediest years on record. Agriculture Canada has conducted the canola weed survey five times: first in 1976 and more recently in 2003. In 2012, the department examined 464 canola fields and found the highest diversity of weeds […] Read more
Farmers urged to guard against Swede midge
Control and research | Sask. producers should closely monitor their canola fields as application thresholds rise with prices
Swede midge has been known in Saskatchewan for several years but made its first attack on producers’ bottom lines last year, says Scott Hartley of Saskatchewan Agriculture. The insect was first identified in 2007 in the province’s northeast but didn’t cause economic damage until last year, when the pest, from the same family as wheat […] Read moreForage council to hire research co-ordinator
The Saskatchewan Forage Council will use funds from the federal government to hire a new official who will steer an industry network and facilitate research and funding. The co-ordinator will head the newly formed Saskatchewan Forage Network. “This project is coming at a key time for the forage industry, as we are currently facing a […] Read more
More efficiency, less waste key to food security: expert
Christophe Pelletier is an agricultural consultant, futurist and optimist. During a recent seminar in Sask-atoon, the proprietor of Vancouver’s Happy Future Group Consulting spoke of the globe’s growing population — pegged at nine billion people in 2050 — without ever using the phrase “global food crisis.” He said the world’s farmers have the capacity to […] Read more
Crop Production Show draws record crowd
Good weather and an optimistic industry helped draw a record crowd to this year’s Crop Production Show in Saskatoon, says an organizer. Some 20,384 people, up two percent from last year, walked through the gates at Prairieland Park to attend industry meetings, presentations and a trade show over four days last week, just missing a […] Read more
Hemp officials confident in industry potential
Demand growing | Markets for seed, oil and fibre gain momentum
Researchers, businesses and farmers have tinkered with prairie hemp production since the mid-1990s, but it’s been almost 20 years and the crop remains a curiosity. For some, that has less to do with elbow pokes and guffaws from passersby, as they joke about the rows of funny-looking and possibly funny-smelling plants, and more to do […] Read more
