Diane Rogers

What’s a young man to do in rural Saskatchewan if he doesn’t want to farm? Sing, of course. Codie Prevost is off to Nashville, Tennessee, next month to write songs and record his first album. The Rose Valley, Sask., man grew up singing and playing guitar around campfires and at Christmas with his mother and […] Read more

For the next three years, British Columbia farm women will have $200,000 to use for mentorship projects and education programs. Chris Michell, a rancher from Kamloops, B.C., who is chairing the steering committee that will allocate the money, said the provincial government has set up a number of sector-specific funds in agriculture because it “wanted […] Read more

The importance of secure play areas for farm children has hit the consciousness of another farm group. The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association is no longer alone in proclaiming the importance of rural child care. Last month the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba passed a motion that said rural child care is a farm safety issue. “The […] Read more

The federal Rural Secretariat is looking for young people with passion. It would like to honour three youths aged 18-29 with the Young Leaders in Rural Canada Awards. Young people who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and contributions to rural, remote and northern Canada, at the local, regional or national level, may be nominated. Awards will […] Read more

Saskatchewan’s rural firefighters may have to change their communication and dispatch system four years after being ordered to invest thousands of dollars in another technology. A committee comprising SaskTel and the provincial government is investigating new technologies that volunteer firefighters can use. Now, most of the province’s rural volunteer fire departments use Fleetnet communication, which […] Read more

Everybody loves her chocolate chip cookies but Kim Heddon’s favourite is ginger snaps. The Meadow Lake, Sask., woman is a partner in a business that sells pails of frozen cookie dough to fundraising groups. Cookie Crumbles is based in the northwestern Saskatchewan town because that is home for Heddon and her partner Lorenda Friesen. Heddon […] Read more

YOUNG, Sask. – One day was too short. The rural women who spent Nov. 17 in the Lutheran church basement of this small town wanted more time to talk about health. And it wasn’t about their arthritis or their mother’s Alzheimer’s. Instead, the group of 15 was there to discuss the larger health-care system and […] Read more

Women in the National Farmers Union say their biggest health concern is dealing with farm stress. No NFU representatives could attend the Nov. 17 meeting in Young, Sask., because it coincided with the organization’s annual meeting. However, Karen Pedersen, the NFU’s women’s president, said in a later interview the organization wants someone to look at […] Read more

Ron Wheeler says his clothing saved his life. On April 15, 2002, he became wrapped around an auger on his farm near Briercrest, Sask. His shirt and pants stretched and ripped and his cowboy belt buckle opened, eventually allowing him to be tossed naked from the machine. If he had been wearing coveralls or a […] Read more

VEGREVILLE, Alta. – Grant Durie doesn’t answer the doorbell at his farm home; instead he comes out of his workshop to greet a visitor. “I don’t make my living in the house,” he says with a smile. Like most farmers this fall, he was eager to get out to the fields but the crop still […] Read more