Nearly 70 Thunder Bay grain handlers fear they’ll be permanently out of work once Viterra completes its integration of former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United port facilities. Sandy Kachur, a 32 year veteran employee first of Manitoba Pool Elevators and then AU, said workers have been told at least one of the former AU […] Read more
Karen Briere
Stories by Karen Briere
Rural services suffer
Saskatchewan urban residents have long accepted long waiting times at the emergency rooms of major city hospitals. But in smaller communities, the problem can be finding an emergency room that is open. At some time in the past year, most of the province’s 12 regional health authorities have had to reduce their emergency services or […] Read more
Avian influenza confirmed on Sask. farm
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H7N3 avian influenza virus in a broiler breeder barn northwest of Regina. About 50,000 birds at Pedigree Poultry will be destroyed in the next few days. A three-kilometre quarantine has been established around the barn and one other commercial poultry operation, at […] Read more
Saskatchewan CWD trackers call for more heads
The discovery of chronic wasting disease in four new areas has prompted Saskatchewan to expand the scope of its control program. Marv Hlady of the environment department’s fish and wildlife division said new positive tests in wild deer were confirmed in the South Saskatchewan River valley near Dundurn, near Gronlid in the northeast, near Rabbit […] Read more
Sask. creates road corridors
LAJORD, Sask. – New signs are going up in Saskatchewan to mark 4,500 kilometres of primary weight grid roads that link main highways and create transportation and economic development corridors. The corridors were identified under the Clearing the Path initiative, a project started in 2004 by rural and urban municipalities to improve the economic climate […] Read more
Leafy spurge fight a daunting task
REGINA BEACH, Sask. – Residents near this popular Saskatchewan resort area are planning an attack, knowing their chances of winning the war are low. Nancy Gray, an agrologist with the Invasive Alien Plant program, told a recent meeting in Regina Beach that eradicating the noxious weed leafy spurge is not likely. However, this won’t stop […] Read more
Sask.’s Serby won’t run again
Deputy premier and former agriculture minister Clay Serby will not run in the next Saskatchewan election. The MLA for Yorkton issued a News release news earlier this month saying he would continue to represent the constituency until an election is called. That is widely expected to happen within the next few weeks but could be […] Read more
Agtech buys Aussie pulse firm
A Regina pulse processor is expanding its global reach. Agtech Income Fund, which operates Saskcan Pulse Trading, Agtech Processors and United Pulse Trading through the operating company Alliance Pulse Processors Inc., has signed a memorandum of understanding with Harvest Grain Australia PTY. The Australian company, which processes lentils, fababeans, broad beans and chickpeas, owns two […] Read more
Farm program sees cuts
Payments made under the second and final year of a federal pilot program designed to help farmers find ways to raise their income will initially be cut in half. Gordon Andrusiak, deputy director of policy integration in Agriculture Canada’s renewal division, said farmers will receive only 50 percent of their payments at first because the […] Read more
Workforce changes underway at Viterra
The process of sorting out who will work where and who won’t work at all is expected to take Viterra managers several months as they aim for a 4,000 person workforce. Right now, about 4,400 people work for the company formed by Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United. Chief executive officer Mayo Schmidt said Sept. […] Read more
