Karen Briere

Farmers and ranchers in southwestern Saskatchewan continue to push the provincial agriculture ministry to help them out of a dry spot. Representatives from the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan met with minister Bob Bjornerud Jan. 21 to present a program they think would be trade friendly and ease some cash flow pressure. The program calls […] Read more

The dry conditions that propelled farmers and ranchers from southwestern Saskatchewan into the legislature several times last spring to ask for help have not eased. Many producers are heading into a fourth year of drought, a problem compounded by escalating gopher populations. Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud heard a new relief proposal Jan. 21 and is […] Read more

The revolving door at the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan continued to turn last week with the resignation of vice-president Kerry Holderness. Holderness of Quill Lake had just been re-elected at the December annual meeting and resigned Jan. 7. He said a series of events and decisions at the APAS board table over the last […] Read more

Community pasture patrons want the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration to hold off on fee increases this summer. The chair of the patron committee at the Webb pasture, near Swift Current, Sask., said producers can’t handle the increase under present economic conditions. Bryce Burnett wrote to federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz and his parliamentary secretary David […] Read more

Targeted advance payments for Saskatchewan hog producers won’t solve their money woes, says the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board. General manager Neil Ketilson said last week’s announcement that hog producers could receive 60 percent of their estimated final payment for 2007 under AgriStability, or the former Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program, is welcome but inadequate. He […] Read more

The Saskatchewan government is seeking 12 people to sit on its Enterprise Saskatchewan board. But selecting those 12 will be a huge job, after it sent out invitations to more than 300 organizations last week asking them to nominate potential board members. Enterprise Saskatchewan is a new corporation, promised by the Saskatchewan Party during the […] Read more

Less than two months after she was re-elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature, Joan Beatty will switch parties and run federally. Liberal leader Stephane Dion announced last week that the former NDP cabinet minister would be the party’s candidate in Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in the upcoming byelection. Voters in four federal ridings will elect new MPs March […] Read more

Officials with Saskatchewan’s cattle and hog industries say short-term loans offered by the provincial government will help producers through current difficulties. Agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud announced a $90 million program just days before Christmas, saying immediate assistance was required while discussions with Ottawa on future needs and programs continue. “Although the federal and provincial governments […] Read more

The future is uncertain for a committee that advised the Saskatchewan agriculture minister now that the new Saskatchewan Party government is establishing an economic development agency. Former NDP agriculture minister Clay Serby established the Action Committee on the Rural Economy in December 1999. Its original four-year term was extended several times and its current mandate […] Read more

The protocol to deal with avian influenza in chicken barns doesn’t go far enough, says a Saskatchewan producer caught in the aftermath of the virus. James Glen, owner of Pedigree Poultry near Regina Beach, said it’s remarkable that producers are left on their own to cope with the expense of cleaning and disinfecting their property. […] Read more