Two years ago the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations unveiled a program to expand the number of First Nations farmers in the province and increase investment in value-added projects like intensive livestock operations. It hasn’t worked, said University of Saskatchewan animal and poultry science professor Red Williams, who was part of the FSIN agriculture task […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Organic producers’ case has different basis
Saskatchewan organic producers are keeping close tabs on Percy Schmeiser’s Supreme Court trial. They are in the midst of a legal dispute of their own with Monsanto and are interested in what Canada’s highest court has to say on the issue. Yet they say the outcome will have no impact on their own pending litigation. […] Read more
RMs locked in dispute over hog barn sites
A proposed $32 million, multi-site hog development has ignited a bitter feud between two neighbouring Saskatchewan rural municipalities. The RM of St. Philips is threatening to sue the RM of Livingston unless it reverses its stance opposing the Lac La Course Hogs Inc. venture. Lac La Course is a Big Sky Farms Inc. project, which […] Read more
Chinese expansion plan gets mixed reaction
When a country that is home to more than one billion people pledges to increase grain production, farmers in other parts of the world better pay attention. In the face of huge imports of American soybeans, premier Wen Jiabao recently promised China’s grain producers their government will put more money into agriculture and farming infrastructure. […] Read more
Lab gets funding
Better methods of protecting calves from respiratory and intestinal diseases could be just around the corner. That’s one of the tangible benefits farmers can expect from a $27 million expansion at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization. “Within the next year or two years, you’ll see that our vaccine development will start […] Read more
CWB proves costly, says organic grower
Farmers usually appreciate Canadian Wheat Board payment adjustments. But that was not the case for Kirk Torkelson, an organic farmer who recently received an unexpected invoice from the grain marketing agency. In November 2002, the Beaubier, Sask., producer sold 76 tonnes of No. 2 CWRS wheat to a commodity broker through the board’s producer direct […] Read more
Pulses have huge upside: expert
Two decades ago, liver was the only food item American consumers despised more than soy, says food scientist Lisa Campbell. Today, thanks to scientific evidence about soy’s nutritional benefits, the soyfood industry has gone mainstream, growing at a rate of 22 percent a year. It is outpacing mature food categories tenfold. Estimates have American consumers […] Read more
Pulse research gets new, cosy home
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers chair Shawn Buhr announced at Pulse Days 2004 that a new $3 million research facility will soon be built at the University of Saskatchewan. What he failed to mention is that the original plan was to build something more than three times as grand. Buhr told the 952 producers gathered at this […] Read more
Pulse growers develop own producer security proposal
A proposed new grower-funded payment security program was panned by farmers attending Pulse Days 2004. They came up with their own solution on how to protect themselves from the risk of processors defaulting on payment obligations. Over the past year the pulse industry has been struggling to find a way to replace the licence and […] Read more
Pulse returns might be slim
After hearing a long list of pulse marketing woes, including an ever-strengthening Canadian dollar, soaring ocean freight rates, rising subsidies in India and poor domestic soil moisture conditions, one grower summed it up. “I think a lot of producers at this point in time are thinking more about crop insurance returns than they are market […] Read more
