Karen Briere

SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Chickpeas do best on stubble that produced high yields the previous year, says an Agriculture Canada researcher. That’s because the previous crop would have used up most of the nitrogen in the soil. Available nitrogen will delay chickpea maturity. Yantai Gan offered producers attending a workshop in Swift Current a choice […] Read more

A farm near Archerwill, Sask., is under quarantine after two mature cows died from anthrax, likely due to contaminated feed. The cows were part of a herd that was vaccinated last summer when anthrax swept through northeastern Saskatchewan, leaving 806 animals dead. Another 148 animals died in Manitoba. Sandra Stephens of the Canadian Food Inspection […] Read more

The next business risk management program for farmers should be simple, consistent and appropriate for all sectors, said people attending a consultation meeting in Regina Feb. 6. But how such a program could be designed remains a question. Farmers had different suggestions on what a new program should include, most of them dependent on which […] Read more

Terra Grain Fuels Holdings Inc., the company building an ethanol plant at Belle Plaine, Sask., is now part of a larger, more diverse company with the resources to invest more in ethanol if it chooses. Terra Grain was bought by Universal Energy Group Ltd. The acquisition was part of an initial public offering of Universal […] Read more

CONSUL, Sask. – The allocation policy at Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration community pastures is due for an update and pasture users will be part of the process, said PFRA officials. Hugh Cook, head of livestock management, told a Jan. 23 meeting of ranchers that there are complaints about the current policy, which hasn’t changed since […] Read more

Ottawa has added 14 Saskatchewan rural municipalities to the list of jurisdictions where drought-affected cattle producers may qualify for tax deferrals. In December, the federal government announced that producers in 20 southwest RMs could get tax deferrals on animals they are forced to sell because of dry conditions. The additional RMs are to the east […] Read more

CONSUL, Sask. – Half the cows that came out of a field at the Nashlyn PFRA pasture in southwestern Saskatchewan last fall were open, leaving patrons fuming and pasture officials investigating. The suspected culprit is trichomoniasis, but Hugh Cook, head of livestock management for the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, said tests on the bulls used […] Read more

It had been at least 12 years since I had oatmeal for breakfast. Or ate an oatmeal cookie. Or thought much about oats, other than writing about them occasionally and making sure they weren’t in anything I was eating. Until recently. For those with celiac disease, or gluten intolerance, living without products made from wheat, […] Read more

Rob Fuller never thought he’d end up championing the many uses of oats. “I actually didn’t even like oats,” says the chef and owner of Zest Restaurant in Regina. But that was before he spent six months cooking as much as he could with various oat bases such as meal, flour and steel cuts. “It’s […] Read more