Saskatchewan will spend an extra $66 million to repair highways damaged by water this year. Highways minister Jim Reiter announced Aug. 23 that $46 million would be added to the budget on top of the $20 million announced in July. The province expects much of this expenditure will be recovered through federal disaster assistance programs. […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
Climate experts study effects of warming on agriculture – for Aug. 11, 2011
A study of the impact of climate change on the Prairies is among five projects recently awarded funding from the federal International Research Initiative on Adaptation to Climate Change. Dave Sauchyn, a University of Regina professor and well-known researcher of climate change, is leading the five-year study, which will also look at similar issues in […] Read more
Diamond T Ranch sells land to Grasslands National Park
The announcement in May that Grasslands National Park in southwestern Saskatchewan had acquired the Diamond T Ranch marked a turning point in relations between the park and local ranchers. Smaller ranches been sold to the park since its inception in the 1980s, but the ranch owned by Bruce Dixon was one of the largest holdouts. […] Read more
Grasslands National Park formation marred by conflict
Within the borders of Grasslands National Park lie old homesteads still referred to by family names. Larson, Belza, Gillespie, Walker and others are now part of history. A cowboy hat display at the Prairie Wind and Silver Sage museum and gallery pays respect to these early ranches. The park made its first major land purchases […] Read more
Restoring native grassland focus of park plan
Visitors to Grasslands National Park see lots of grass in the spring. It is green, but it’s not the kind of grass the park wants. It is crested wheatgrass, a boon to the ranchers who ran herds in these dry plains before the area became a national park. The wheatgrass takes over if left unchecked, […] Read more
Preparation aids arbitration outcome
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — Farmers who take disputes to the Saskatchewan Surface Rights Arbitration Board should be better prepared, says the board chair. Duane Smith said farmers are at a disadvantage when arguing their cases in front of the board because energy companies have more resources available to them. “A lot of people say we […] Read more
A delicate balance at Grasslands National Park
Grass. That’s what pioneering ranchers came to southern Saskatchewan to get. That’s what Parks Canada wanted to preserve when it created a national park in the area in the 1980s. Natural prairieland of mixed grass was disappearing before the plow and conversions to tame pastures, but farming the park created friction with ranchers. Ironically, the […] Read more
Massive U.S. budget deficit will affect its next farm bill: ag economist
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — The United States’ $1 trillion budget deficit will affect the size of its next farm bill, says an American agricultural economist. Agricultural spending is an easy target, even though it is less than one percent of the federal budget, said Flynn Adcock, assistant director of the Centre for North American Studies […] Read more
Prairie researcher gets climate change funding
A study of the impact of climate change on the Prairies is among five projects recently awarded funding from the federal International Research Initiative on Adaptation to Climate Change. Dave Sauchyn, a University of Regina professor and climate change researcher, is leading the five-year study, which will also look at similar issues in South America. […] Read more
Prairie hail claims low despite severe storms
Prairie farmers have filed fewer hail claims than normal despite a wet and stormy growing season so far. As of July 20, members of the Canadian Crop Hail Association reported 2,650 claims in Saskatchewan, 930 in Alberta and 500 in Manitoba. David Van Deynze of Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. said the low numbers are a […] Read more
