Tests show extremely high levels of both sulfates and total dissolved solids in dugout water killed more than 200 cattle on the Shamrock Grazing Ltd. pasture last week. Saskatchewan chief veterinary officer Dr. Betty Althouse released the completed test results yesterday, noting that sulfate levels were more than 24,000 milligrams per litre. Concentrations of 1,000 […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
Power line upsets Sask. farmer
A farmer from Wadena, Sask., wants SaskPower to reconsider the route for a proposed three-phase power line that will affect his operation. Chad Haskey said the new Viterra facility at Wadena requires the service, but the corporation has chosen an indirect route that divides his farm and puts his plans for an airstrip in jeopardy. […] Read more
Large number of cattle die in Sask. pasture
More than 200 cows and calves have been found dead in a former PFRA pasture in southwestern Saskatchewan. Some of the cattle were found dead in a dugout on the Shamrock pasture north of Gravelbourg and south of Chaplin Lake. The province, which owns the pasture but leases it to a patron co-op, is expected […] Read more
Septic tank alert designed to prevent unpleasant surprise
Developers of a new ultrasonic sensor say it ends the uncertainty around an important household question: is the septic tank full? TankFull, a division of Duck Mountain Environmental based in Kamsack, Sask., received a gold standard award at Canada’s Farm Progress Show for its promise of 24/7 monitoring through the sensor and a cellular network […] Read more
SSGA opposes Matador burn
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — The Sask-atchewan Stock Growers Association says prescribed burning in a protected area that hasn’t been grazed for 50 years should not be allowed. The province’s parks ministry wants to burn about 320 acres of native grass in the Matador Prairie Protected Area before applying chemical to control weeds. The ministry had […] Read more
Summit sets course for food policy
More than 250 stakeholders met in Ottawa last month to begin work on a national food policy. The two-day summit was described as an important step in the process. Federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay said the policy is intended to set a long-term vision that includes health, social well-being, the environment and the economy. It […] Read more
Sask. food banks grateful for generosity of beef producers
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — The Sask-atchewan Stock Growers Association’s beef drive has far surpassed its original goal and continues to bring in donations for the province’s food banks. Shane Jahnke, who was re-elected president at the organization’s recent annual meeting, said the beef drive launched in early November was a highlight of the past year. […] Read more
Sask. testing program reveals Johne’s
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Saskatchewan’s Johne’s testing program has found a significant number of positive herds, but provincial disease surveillance veterinarian Wendy Wilkins says that’s because the participants already suspected they had a problem. The program offered through Growing Forward 2 began in the fall of 2013. As of March 2017, 12,300 head had been […] Read more
Carbon tax: A bitter pill for farmers
From his west coast vantage point, Stan Vander Waal isn’t sure that carbon taxes do what proponents say: change behaviour to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The chair of the British Columbia Agriculture Council and owner of Chilliwack-based Rainbow Greenhouses has had nine years to observe the tax in practice. He said his operation was already […] Read more
Herd vaccination worth expense: survey
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — The cost of vaccination is far outweighed by the cost of losses due to some common cattle ailments, said Western Beef Development Centre economist Kathy Larson. At the WBDC, she calculated a cost of $26.20 per cow to vaccinate for blackleg, anthrax, diarrhea and respiratory diseases, plus parasite control. “Low cost […] Read more
