Karen Morrison

Abandoned water wells in farm yards are seen as liabilities by realtors and lenders and risks to public safety and health by farm families. Nolan Shaheen, director of ground water management with the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, said there are tens of thousands of such wells in Saskatchewan. He said failing to decommission them could affect […] Read more

KENASTON, Sask. – People bundled into woollen hats and warm coats ambled through the rows of balsam fir and Scots pine at the Mason U-cut Christmas tree farm. One family from Stettler, Alta., drags two trees to their horse trailer after stopping here on the way home from Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. A couple […] Read more

Increased access to Canadian beef is providing restaurant chefs with new menu options. Lyndon O’Hearn, corporate chef for Kelsey’s restaurants, cited the flat iron steak as one example. It is a more labour intensive cut, requiring a butcher to peel back the sinewy coating and butterfly the thick piece to make it suitable for selections […] Read more

Cool weather had its upside in 2004, producing a bountiful salad crop, said Doug Waterer of the University of Saskatchewan. The vegetable crops specialist said warm season plants like pumpkins and tomatoes fared poorly, while cool season crops like lettuce and radishes stretched out their harvest season. Speaking at the Saskatchewan Greenhouse and Vegetable conference […] Read more

A turkey vulture that nested near Leoville, Sask., has flown as far south as Honduras. Bird enthusiast Stuart Houston of Saskatoon and others are tracking the bird, fitted with a radio transmitter, to determine the migration path of the turkey vultures of the northern plains. “We’re the first in North America to be getting these […] Read more

The Saskatchewan SPCA is investigating a custom grazing operation northwest of Loon Lake, Sask., after cattle were found without adequate water and food. Frances Wach, the association’s executive director, said 1,700 animals from farms in Saskatchewan and Alberta were being custom managed on a 20,000 acre pasture. The SPCA was contacted Oct. 29 by ranchers […] Read more

This fall, Ron Stevens was forced to lower his well pump to the 30 metre level from 12 m after the water table dropped by up to 20 m in his community west of Grandora, Sask. Water quality in his artesian well has since deteriorated and filters picking up shale must be cleaned several times […] Read more

Say something good, say it well and say it often in advertising messages, greenhouse growers were told in Saskatoon Nov. 14. Randy Stefan of Monopolize Your Marketplace said growers need to get better at telling and showing consumers why they offer good value and how they are better than the competition. Speaking at the Saskatchewan […] Read more

Prairie vegetable growers could find new markets as Wal-Mart creates larger stores with produce lines, a Manitoba grower told a Saskatchewan conference Nov. 13. The change will mean large volume buying, said Doug Connery of Connery Riverdale Farms at Portage la Prairie, Man. He hoped Manitoba’s well-established grower co-operatives would be approached first, but was […] Read more

A few minutes spent with the calculator at the office desk can save cattle producers many dollars in the fields, says beef economist Sandy Russell. Speaking at a seminar at the Saskatoon Fall Fair Nov. 17, she advised participants to take a business approach to managing forages. “Understand your costs, make your grass work for […] Read more