Saskatchewan crop insurance has extended reporting deadlines because of flooding and the strike by 470 of its workers. The deadline for producers to submit establishment benefit and unseeded acreage claims, seeded acreage reports and stored grain declarations has been extended to June 30. Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud also said there is flexibility with that date, […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
Viterra purchases Minot-based pulse processor
Viterra has purchased Premier Pulses International Inc., a processor and seller of peas and lentils at Minot, North Dakota. The company also has a marketing office in Lewiston, Idaho. Viterra bought the inventory and assets of the company, which ships internationally. The deal closed June 20.
Sask. crop insurance workers walk off the job
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. unionized workers walked off the job at 2 p.m. June 21. The 500 workers, who are members of the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union, had been in a strike position since May 27. The workers have been without a contract since September 2009. They had been offered 5.5 percent over […] Read more
Recycled material: inexpensive tarps
Farmers have long believed in the principles of reusing and recycling. Why throw something away when it might come in handy another day? Damon Carson of Denver, Colorado, has taken that idea a bit further. He recycles products from one industry and reuses them in another, mainly farming and ranching. Waste has always been his […] Read more
Turbines set to whirl in four windy Sask. communities
Wind turbines are going up in four Saskatchewan communities this summer as part of a demonstration project aimed at reducing electrical costs in arenas. The five-year, $1.9 million project will test whether wind power is a viable source that communities could consider in the future. More than 150 communities expressed interest in the project when […] Read more
Canadian cattle markets rebounding: economist
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Canadian beef producers should be optimistic, at least in the short term, about where their industry is headed, an agricultural economist told Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association members last week. Andy Schmitz of the University of Florida also farms in Saskatchewan near Chaplin and Central Butte. He said the American herd continues […] Read more
Sask. farmers get extension on seeding deadline for some crops
Saskatchewan farmers who buy crop insurance have been given more time to get their crops in the ground and still be insured. They will also be eligible for the unseeded acreage benefit if they can’t access their land. The Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. announced last week that excess moisture meant many farmers either couldn’t seed […] Read more
Jack Frost delaying visit to Prairies
Farmers who think frost is coming later each fall are right. Environment Canada uses 30-year averages to determine the frost-free period, which is the number of days between the last spring frost and first fall frost. The present normals include data from 1971 to 2000, but the department is establishing a new set of normals […] Read more
Insurance employees take action to push wage deal
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. workers will not work weekends or overtime while in a legal strike position. However, acting general manager Shawn Jaques said that won’t affect service to farmers. About 520 workers, who are members of the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union, voted 86 percent in favour of a strike mandate during 21 […] Read more
Marketing board back
The provincial government has reinstated the powers of the Saskatchewan Broiler Hatching Egg Producers Marketing Board, 11 years after they were taken away. The power to deal with quota and industry disputes was assigned to the agriculture minister in May 2000 and then delegated to an administrator. Roy White, who has been the administrator since […] Read more
