The number of unseeded acreage benefit claims in Saskatchewan has surpassed the 2010 record. As of Monday, July 18, the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. had registered 13,243 claims. That compares to 12,314 last year. So far, 5,104 claims worth $155.5 million have been paid out. Last year, the total payout for unseeded acreage claims was […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
Inventors win award for child warning safety device
Two years ago, Wendy and Joe Wecker were about to import a device to keep children safe from farmyard vehicles and equipment. The farm couple from Sedley, Sask., who have three young children, had seen the Kinderfinder in Europe and thought it would sell well in Canada. The receiver, which is placed in farm vehicles, […] Read more
Farmers face more variable weather
People who live near North Battleford, Sask., say they have never seen a drier spring than this one. The March through May period was the driest since records were first kept 70 years ago, said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips. The area received 11 millimetres of precipitation, significantly down from the normal level of […] Read more
Sask. producers aim to wipe out BVD
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Saskatchewan’s chief veterinary officer has commended the province’s cow-calf producers for wanting to raise awareness of bovine viral diarrhea. The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association passed a resolution at its June annual meeting to lobby the provincial government for a BVD awareness strategy. Another resolution asked the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency to […] Read more
Couple will represent province at OYF nationals
Franck and Kari Groeneweg of Edgeley will represent Saskatchewan at the national Outstanding Young Farmers competition in Brandon, Man., this fall. The couple has been farming since 2002 and currently have 9,060 acres of owned, rented and custom farmed land northeast of Regina. Franck, who grew up on a small farm in France, and Kari, […] Read more
Floods damage roads, buildings in Estevan area
ESTEVAN, Sask. — Ray Frehlick has operated Prairie Mud Service for more than 40 years in the southeastern Saskatchewan oil fields, but it’s mud of a different sort that concerns him this year. Frehlick also farms 14,000 acres in the area. “We thought we had about 2,500 seeded but that has dropped,” he said last […] Read more
Crop insurance workers return
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. reached a tentative agreement with its workers last week after a short strike. The 470 Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union members walked off the job June 21. They settled three days later for a 5.5 percent wage increase over three years plus .25 percent in the third year, as well […] Read more
Qu’Appelle Valley farmers capitalize on nature
LUMSDEN, Sask. — Laureen and Wes LaBrash were both raised, at opposite ends of the province, on farms that focused on local, organic food production. Now they are raising their son, Justin, 11, on an organic farm in the Qu’Appelle Valley west of Lumsden, Sask., with a goal of growing food and providing an organic […] Read more
Sask. crop insurance receives unseeded acre files
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. has received 7,214 unseeded acreage claims as of today and will begin processing them this week. As well, 2,144 establishment benefit claims have been registered, of which 394 have been paid. The value of those claims is $3.22 million. The corporation is expecting more than 24,150 seeded acreage reports. So far, […] Read more
Striking crop insurance workers reach tentative agreement
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. and its striking workers have reached a tentative agreement. A new three-year deal, retroactive to Oct. 1, 2009, would include a 5.5 percent wage increase over three years, as well as other enhancements for about 470 Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union members. The provincial legislature had been set to return […] Read more
