Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association chief executive officer looks back at the positive developments of 2018
KINDERSLEY, Sask. — It has been a good year for Saskatchewan cattle producers, according to Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association chief executive officer Ryder Lee. He listed changes to compensation, trade agreements and the opening of the new livestock and forage centre as positives during the Oct. 22 District 7 meeting in Kindersley. Lee said compensation for […] Read more
William DeKay
Stories by William DeKay
Financial trouble requires quick action: FCC
Possible options for farmers include postponing payments or making capital injections to reduce the financial pressure
Farm Credit Canada is encouraging its grain-producing customers experiencing financial difficulties to get in touch sooner rather than later. “People should not be shy in contacting their FCC office and setting up a time to even just have a quick conversation with their relationship manager about what options they do have and what’s needed to […] Read more
More ‘retired’ farmers keep their land
Auctioneers say they are seeing fewer estate sales now than 10 to 15 years ago as retirees keep ties to their farms
“They always say to leave the party when you’re having the most fun,” says Betty Turner. She and husband, Dennis Turner, love farming. But on Oct. 25, after 40 years of farming, the couple are having an equipment auction and retiring. “There comes a time to make some new memories, and that time is now,” […] Read more
Livestock research enters new era in Sask.
CLAVET, Sask. — The University of Saskatchewan’s Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence is being hailed as a world-class complex of field and science laboratories that is expected to trail blaze innovative research, hands-on learning and teaching, and industry engagement in all aspects of livestock and forage production on the Prairies. The $38 million facility, […] Read more
Iconic photograph sparks humbling journey
Depression-era story inspires Alberta couple to retrace Saskatchewan family’s steps with vintage car, 84 years later
ROSTHERN, Sask. — In 1933, Abe and Elizabeth Fehr of Neuanlage, Sask., took their seven children on a desperate journey. Across Canada, the economic collapse of the Great Depression forced them and other families to uproot their lives in search of a better future. As crops withered in drought and poverty deepened, Abe took his […] Read more
Low-stress handling gets attention
The provincial co-ordinator of Saskatchewan VBP says the practice has an important role in animal welfare production
LANGHAM, Sask. — A small herd of freshly weaned calves were a test of low-stress cattle handling techniques. “These cattle were a little flightier, so pressure and release. I put some pressure on them and then released that pressure hoping to draw their movement past me,” Lee Sinclair of Merck Animal Health said Oct. 1 […] Read more
Research focuses on flooring design as possible disease cause
Toe tip necrosis syndrome often misdiagnosed, and likely more common than had been thought: vet researcher
Toe tip necrosis syndrome, a disease that causes lameness in the hind feet of cattle, is often overlooked, said a veterinary researcher. “I think the disease has always been there and we’ve just misdiagnosed it,” said Murray Jelinski from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. “It’s probably much, […] Read more
Food project connects city to country
The program allows people to sponsor an acre of farmland, which covers the cost of seed, fuel and other inputs
City folks have an opportunity to get in touch with their farmer sides by sponsoring an acre of farmland in Saskatchewan. Grow Hope Saskatchewan is a novel approach aimed at attracting more urban donations to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. The project is a partnership between the Saskatoon Catholic Diocese, Mennonite Central Committee and the Canadian […] Read more
Sheep eat their way along swale
It’s been six weeks of work for a flock of 300 sheep that are munching their way through the shrubs and non-native grasses that have overtaken natural species in the Northeast Swale conservation area of Saskatoon. The ruminants are part of an effort to enhance the native prairie of this nature preserve and improve the […] Read more
Controlled fires can prevent wildfires: research
Prescribed burns at a conservation site in Saskatchewan help researchers understand importance of fire on the prairie
Bone-dry conditions have put a damper on further research using fire at Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area in southwestern Saskatchewan. A prescribed burn this fall, organized by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and University of Saskatchewan, was cancelled. “We’re not considering a burn right now. It’s just not safe. It’s […] Read more
