The challenge of keeping rural Saskatchewan emergency rooms open could be alleviated by adopting a Nova Scotia health-care model, says Saskatchewan’s minister responsible for rural and remote health. Randy Weekes said Saskatchewan will pilot the Maritime province’s collaborative emergency centre program once the details can be worked out. He toured two facilities while in Nova […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
Prepare for change, Sask. minister tells pasture users
Patrons who use the 60 pastures Saskatchewan is inheriting from Ottawa should be prepare for change, said Saskatchewan agriculture minister Lyle Stewart. He has seen preliminary suggestions from the committee advising the province on what to do with the former Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration pastures, but he hasn’t seen the final list from Ottawa of […] Read more
Making it in the mustard market
Gravelbourg Mustard | New owners look to new marketing, distribution approaches to turn it around
A Saskatchewan gourmet mustard company is expanding and launching new products, even though it recently lost a supplier of its main ingredient. Gravelbourg Mustard is unveiling a new label this week and another three flavours within six weeks. It is also working on national distribution. Val Michaud and her husband, Leo, bought the European-style mustard […] Read moreRural, urban Sask. boundaries shift
Provincial electoral boundaries are shifting in rural Saskatchewan under a proposed new electoral map released last week. The boundaries are being redrawn after the government passed legislation to add three seats to reflect the growing population. The total number of seats will rise from 58 to 61. When the legislation was introduced last December, the […] Read more
Twist test will ensure hay dry enough to bale
Hot weather doesn’t cure hay more quickly and experts are cautioning farmers to make sure they don’t bale too soon. Barry Yaremcio, Alberta’s beef and forage specialist, said he has heard of some baling two days after cutting because it has been so hot. Hay will not have completely cured in that time. He said […] Read more
Ottawa fails to outline marketing plan after CWB elimination
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Rick Swenson has not been a typical CWB supporter. The former provincial Progressive Conservative cabinet minister from Saskatchewan and Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association director advocated for a voluntary CWB and didn’t always have a permit book. But the Moose Jaw area farmer says the changes forced upon the agency by […] Read more
Sticky willowherb not ‘a big deal’
Farmers may be seeing more sticky willowherb in fields that were intentionally left fallow or made fallow because of flooding during the last couple of years. Saskatchewan weed control specialist Clark Brenzil said the plant thrives in areas that mimic a natural vegetation loss, such as a prairie fire or a flood. Chem fallow fields […] Read more
Sask. gets new veterinary chief
Dr. Betty Althouse is Saskatchewan’s new chief veterinary officer. She joined the ministry from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, where she had worked since 1999. She replaces Dr. Greg Douglas, who became Ontario’s chief veterinarian earlier this year. Althouse began her veterinary career in a mixed practice in Humboldt, Sask., where she developed an interest […] Read more
SaskPower requests rate hike for system improvements
SaskPower has applied for a 4.9 percent rate hike that, if approved, would add an average $10 per month to farm power bills. President Robert Watson said July 10 the increase, set to take effect Jan. 1, is necessary to pay for improvements required to the province’s electrical system. The last rate hike was 4.5 […] Read more
Weed sampling shows increasing herbicide resistance
Preliminary results of herbicide resistance testing in weed samples from last year shows a trend toward Group 2 resistant wild oats. The testing done at the Saskatchewan Crop Protection Lab in Sask-atoon examined 235 weed samples: 76 from Saskatchewan, 103 from Alberta and 56 from Manitoba. Twenty-two samples were not yet completed when the preliminary […] Read more
