KIPLING, Sask. — Eric Widdup says the Water Security Agency’s permitting process for agricultural drainage is exasperating. “The politics and the red tape involved are overwhelming,” he told a Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities division meeting last month. “It’s almost like pulling teeth to get an ag drainage permit. The process is at best dysfunctional […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
BeeSecure property tracking app to fight rural crime tested in Sask. municipality
The prototype of a new device designed to help fight rural crime is now being tested in one Saskatchewan rural municipality. But it’s also for sale from the developer. BeeSecure is a tracking device and app designed by Jeff Shirley of Rivercity Technology Services in Saskatoon through the government’s innovation challenge. The government announced late […] Read more
Sask. farmers lobby for better drainage rules
Sask. Farm Stewardship Association rejects illegal drainage but says water management through drainage is necessary
One small slough on a quarter-section can cost a farmer thousands in lost production and inputs, said Myles Thorpe, president of the Saskatchewan Farm Stewardship Association. That’s why many farmers want to drain those water bodies most commonly called potholes. Yet drainage has become a dirty word due to years of unauthorized works that dumped […] Read moreProducers push to extend farm program review
A coalition of Canadian farm organizations wants the business risk management program review extended because it hasn’t been finished in time for next week’s agriculture ministers meeting in Vancouver. The one-year review was announced last July at the ministerial meeting in St. John’s, N.L., but it was late getting out of the gate. An external […] Read more
KAP president steps down
The president of Keystone Agricultural Producers has stepped down to seek a federal Conservative nomination. Dan Mazier, a grains and oilseeds farmer near Justice, Man., resigned July 6 and is now aiming to replace Robert Sopuck in Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa. Sopuck represented the riding since a 2010 byelection and announced in May that he would not […] Read more
Sask. study finds $16 billion carbon tax hit
Rural leaders say a study that shows a potential $16-billion hit to Saskatchewan’s gross domestic product from a carbon tax is exactly why one shouldn’t be imposed. The study, which was conducted by the University of Regina’s institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities and paid for by the province, examined the economic and environmental […] Read more
Wild pig problem needs attention now, says researcher
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — A Saskatchewan researcher says the province needs a plan to deal with a burgeoning number of wild pigs. Ryan Brook said the animals are established in most of the watersheds of southern Saskatchewan and particular hot spots are the Tisdale, Melfort and forest fringe areas. “Today the total impacts are fairly […] Read more
Sask. Outstanding Young Farmers named
Jordan and Jennifer Lindgren believe in high-value agriculture by maximizing production on their land
A Norquay couple has been selected Saskatchewan’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2018. Jordan and Jennifer Lindgren operate 11,500 acres on fourth-generation Lindgren Farms in the east-central part of the province. Field-scale trials are an important part of their operation. They took over the Field of Dreams project, with Prairie Soil Services, which is now in […] Read more
Sask. sets new targets for livestock receipts by 2025
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — The Saskatchewan government just raised the bar for livestock producers and that’s a good thing. The province is now targeting livestock cash receipts of $2.5 billion by 2025 in its updated growth plan. Shelley Jones, manager of the agriculture ministry’s Ag Knowledge Centre, said previous targets had been met and it […] Read more
Western soybeans making a splash
Soy Canada held its annual general meeting in Regina last month, a location that some might never have predicted. But outgoing president Mark Huston from Thamesville, Ont., said it was an obvious choice to tie the meeting in with Canada’s Farm Progress Show and some crop tours. “Two of the most memorable aspects of the […] Read more
