It’s been five years since the hog barns were full on John Germs’ farm. The Saskatoon area farmer de-scribes the time as bittersweet. He spent 32 years in the business, shipping up to 95 hogs per week, before switching full time to grain. “I wake up every morning and I still know exactly what day […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
Trees wanted: living, with leaves, please
Ken Van Rees wants trees, and lots of them. To be precise, he wants to cut down a tree in as many farm shelter belts as he can to see how much carbon that tree is storing. The University of Saskatchewan agroforestry expert is heading a research project under the federal agriculture department’s Agricultural Greenhouse […] Read more
‘Cobalt bomb’ researcher leaves a regal legacy
A state funeral will be held in Saskatoon Oct. 5 for former lieutenant governor Sylvia Fedoruk. Saskatchewan’s first female lieutenant governor died Sept. 26 at age 85 after complications from a fall. Born in Canora, Sask., where the town’s curling rink is named in her honour, Fedoruk became a biophysicist and in 1951 was a […] Read more
Agriculture, rural Sask. infrastructure on premier’s priority list
Agriculture will be a key focus when the Saskatchewan government announces its growth plan later this month. The plan will set out how the province can handle the challenges and opportunities of strong economic and population growth. The province saw its biggest year-over-year growth since 1921, growing by 22,154 people between July 1, 2011 and […] Read more
More time given for SaskTel switchover
Internet change | Deadline set for March 2014
About 8,000 rural internet customers will continue to receive high-speed service from SaskTel — for now. Industry Canada last week announced it would give the crown corporation more time to reconfigure its network. The wireless broadband service through SaskTel was to be discontinued by the end of this year, and most affected customers were pointed […] Read moreSaskatchewan cattle producer’s hay heads to Eastern Canada
Ten years ago, Les Wardrop re-ceived a truckload of hay from Eastern Canada. Today, the Saskatchewan cattle producer is returning the favour. Wardrop, who has 70 cows on his mixed operation between Rosetown and Biggar, has signed up to donate 100 large round bales to eastern farmers affected by drought. The HayEast 2012 campaign was […] Read more
Tree diseases a continuous threat
INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDEN, Manitoba-North Dakota border — The death of some trees can be predicted as soon as they are planted. Experts might not be able to say exactly what will kill the trees, but they know that some are more susceptible to disease and pests than others. That can destroy entire shelter belts and […] Read more
Bees need trees, please
Shelter belts vital | Wild bee population at risk?
INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDEN, Manitoba-North Dakota border — Bulldozing a shelter belt can leave countless critters homeless. And some of those birds and bugs play a crucial role in farming operations. About half of agricultural crops rely on bees for pollination, said Mark Wonneck, an ecologist with Agriculture Canada in Calgary. Many farmers use managed or […] Read moreSask. joins FCC’s ag promotion program
Saskatchewan has become the first province to become an official partner of the Agriculture More Than Ever campaign. The awareness initiative started by Farm Credit Canada earlier this year fits with the sentiments expressed by provincial agriculture minister Lyle Stewart when he was named to the portfolio in May. Stewart said then that agriculture hadn’t […] Read more
Sask. harvest 97 percent complete
Harvest in Saskatchewan was virtually complete by Oct. 1, according to the province’s Oct. 4 crop report. Overall, 97 percent of the 2012 had been combined. The five-year average is 83 percent. Ninety-eight percent of spring wheat and durum, 93 percent of oats, 95 percent of canola and 74 percent of flax had been harvested. […] Read more
