Saskatchewan continues to sell agricultural crown land it no longer wants to own. Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud told a legislative committee April 21 that nearly 19,000 acres have been sold. Of that amount, about 11,600 acres are cultivated and the remainder is grazing land. Agriculture critic Pat Atkinson asked if sales were slow, considering the […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
COOL creates cattle chaos
As the American packing sector continues to adjust to mandatory country-of-origin labelling requirements, Canadian producers are advised to confirm arrangements even with long-standing buyers. At least 10 of the larger U.S. beef packers are not accepting Canadian cattle, while others are taking feeders but not cattle for immediate slaughter. Some are taking slaughter animals but […] Read more
Sask. packer closure temporary: XL
The temporary closure of the XL Foods plant in Moose Jaw, Sask., has many producers and cattle feeders wondering about whether the plant will ever reopen. XL Foods announced the closure of its slaughter plant last week with plans to reopen at the end of September. “The biggest concern is there’s no assurance once it […] Read more
Egg quota resolution sees Sask. quota double
An eight-year dispute over national quota allocation has ended with a unanimous resolution by the Egg Farmers of Canada to give Saskatchewan a bigger share. In exchange, Saskatchewan will drop all legal action it has taken in a bid to increase its quota. The province will receive 4.76 percent of all allocations, up from the […] Read more
Crown land lease rates increase
Farmers who lease cultivated crown land from the Saskatchewan government will pay 83 percent more this year. While some find that hard to swallow, agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud said the increase could have been worse because the formula to determine lease rates calculated a 97 percent hike. NDP agriculture critic Pat Atkinson said farmers find […] Read more
Sask. parents want busing plan review
A Saskatchewan Queen’s Bench justice has reserved his decision in the latest round of a long-standing busing dispute between parents and the Prairie Valley School Division. The dispute arose after the division closed the Glenavon school in 2007. The division said it would transport students to Montmartre as the next closest school but a group […] Read more
Sask. escapes flooding
While southern Manitoba deals with the second worst flood in recorded history, all is relatively quiet next door in Saskatchewan. Doug Johnson of the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority said spring runoff through the Souris River and Long Creek basins in the southeast has ended. “Things are good,” he said. “Inflows have dropped off. We’ve stopped spilling […] Read more
Agribition in the black
A small profit and big plans for next year marked Canadian Western Agribition’s annual meeting last week. The show announced profit of $18,080 on revenues of just more than $3 million, for the year ending Jan. 31, 2009. Chief executive officer Jason Pollock agreed the number is small by some standards but noted it’s much […] Read more
Couple pleased with sheep venture
GLENAVON, Sask. – Bleating lambs scamper around looking for their mothers while others nurse or snooze curled up to each other. On the other side of the corral fence, ewes due any time rest and wait. Lambing is in full swing in mid-March at Jeff and Janette Mish’s farm in southeastern Saskatchewan. About 200 Katahdin […] Read more
Lamb feedlot for sale
A for sale sign swings outside the entrance to Roy Leitch Livestock north of Regina. The lamb feedlot is empty and the owner says the days of feeding thousands of lambs there are over. “Things have changed,” Roy Leitch said. The demand for Canadian lamb is tremendous, he said, but it’s only for a specific […] Read more
