Karen Briere

Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud retained his portfolio after a May 29 Saskatchewan cabinet shuffle but other key rural ministers have changed. Premier Brad Wall said if he had to assign a theme to the shuffle, 18 months after he appointed his first cabinet, it would be “a younger face and a steady hand.” “We have […] Read more

Saskatchewan cattle producers will hear just how their industry rates after an independent assessment is released at the Stock Growers Association annual meeting. A study of the province’s livestock sector, commissioned and paid for by the government but supported by the stock growers, Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association, Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association and SaskPork, has been underway […] Read more

A former Saskatchewan agriculture minister who now wants to lead the NDP says he would return spot loss hail to the crop insurance program. Dwain Lingenfelter, who left politics in 2000, said his agricultural and rural policy is based on what farmers and rural people have told him. “We hear that over and over again,” […] Read more

Ryan Meili spends more time in rural Saskatchewan than most city dwellers. And what the NDP leadership candidate, Saskatoon resident and physician sees in his travels as a rural relief locum tells him things have to change. “It doesn’t make any sense, what we do now,” he said. Meili cited the practice of exporting what […] Read more

A few years of raising cattle showed Deb Higgins how tough agriculture can be. The Moose Jaw NDP leadership candidate and her husband ran a few head on 80 acres as part of a larger family operation in the Spring Valley Hills south of the city. “We got a small taste of how difficult it […] Read more

Isabel Priestly would be proud. Although the Yorkton, Sask., woman never saw the formal creation of Nature Saskatchewan, she was key to its inception. Priestly began publishing the Blue Jay, an informal newsletter designed for people to share their interest in nature and record their observations, in 1942. It was mimeographed in the medical office […] Read more

Saskatchewan farmers will pay an average of $18 more each month for electricity beginning June 1. The government approved an 8.5 percent rate increase for SaskPower May 20. The utility originally requested a 13 percent hike. When the request went to the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel, the members suggested the corporation could reduce input costs […] Read more

It’s now up to shareholders of ABB Grain to decide if a proposed takeover by Regina-based Viterra Inc. will proceed. Details of the $1.4 billion Cdn acquisition were released in Adelaide and Regina May 19. Shareholders, the Australian court and regulatory agencies in both countries must approve the deal. Viterra chief financial officer Rex McLennan […] Read more

Nature Saskatchewan is keeping a close eye on the provincial government’s crown land sale program. Although agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud has repeatedly said that land protected by the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act won’t be sold, Nature Saskatchewan isn’t so sure. The organization generally doesn’t involve itself in political issues, said acting general manager Gary Seib. […] Read more