OUTLOOK, Sask. – Curling brooms in the hallway and a skating rink on the driveway are the first hints of Roger and Sandy Pederson’s preoccupations in the winter months on the farm south of Saskatoon. They juggle their own curling matches with watching their granddaughters play hockey. Irrigation farming combined with Sandy’s accounting work off […] Read more
Stories by Karen Morrison
Sask. crop insurance premiums down slightly
Saskatchewan producers will see little change in their crop insurance premiums in 2006. They are expected to drop by a half percent from last year, reports Saskatchewan Crop Insurance. In announcing the 2006 insurance program Feb. 24, provincial agriculture minister Mark Wartman acknowledged producers are struggling with low commodity prices, trade barriers, a strong loonie […] Read more
Federated Co-op posts another year of record profits
Canada’s top co-op continues to break its own records year after year, with 2005 sales totals of $4.78 billion for Federated Co-operatives Ltd. That’s up from $4.17 billion last year for the 286 western Canadian outlets that have returned more than $800 million in dividends to their members over the last decade. “That’s $800 million […] Read more
New high-energy oat variety shows promise in cattle rations
New high-energy oat varieties could offer cattle producers a low cost alternative to barley and corn. Grant Zalinko of the University of Saskatchewan’s animal and poultry science department detailed how research is showing the potential for comparable weight gains in backgrounding diets from feeding similar amounts of corn, barley and oats. The problem lies in […] Read more
Agency explains water handling
Average to above average snow in the mountains bodes well for a healthy supply of water for Lake Diefenbaker this summer. Doug Johnson, director of basin operations for the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, expects the lake to be at levels lower this June than last year. “We are moving as much water out of Lake Diefenbaker […] Read more
Eyewitness, licence number not sufficient for arrest
Eyewitness accounts of a truck chasing down and injuring two bulls in a British Columbia community pasture do not provide enough evidence to take the case to trial. One evening last May, a group of men chased two purebred Charolais bulls in the pasture near Jaffray. A neighbour witnessed two men in the front seat […] Read more
Farmers urged to tout their food
Western Canadian farmers need to do a better job of telling their own stories, an agrologist and exporter told the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers convention in Saskatoon on Feb. 15. Art Froehlich of AdFarm in Calgary said farmers have lost contact with consumers. Shoppers are now more likely to go to the local grocery store […] Read more
CWD soars in Sask.
The number of new cases of chronic wasting disease in wild deer has spiked in Saskatchewan this year, reports Saskatchewan Environment. Marv Hlady, the department’s CWD provincial manager, said there have been 101 positive cases of CWD in Saskatchewan, including more than 35 this year alone. The infectious neurological disease was first discovered in the […] Read more
Docile cattle better for feedlot profit
Fiona Buchanan believes genes hold important keys to building a calmer cattle herd. A featured speaker at the Saskatchewan Beef Symposium in Saskatoon Feb. 8-9, the beef cattle molecular geneticist said rank animals, which account for as much as six percent of herds in feedlots, can harm themselves, facilities, handlers and other animals. “Six percent […] Read more
Older beef tasty with a little TLC
As a girl on the farm, Phyllis Shand recalled her family fattening up young cattle to provide tasty meals for the supper table. Her research at the University of Saskatchewan is now showing that beef from animals older than 30 months can be just as juicy and tender. Shand, an associate professor of food science, […] Read more
