Meat that isn’t meat may be coming to a plate near you. Biting into the relatively stable market of animal protein, a.k.a. meat, is technology using plant-based proteins that mimic the look, feel, smell and taste of meat. Such manufactured food products are providing consumers with more selection to satisfy wide-ranging palates, vegan and vegetarian […] Read more
William DeKay
Stories by William DeKay
Antibiotic resistance is real, warns professor
Mass medicating with antibiotics can impact human medicine and consumer backlash is bad for the industry
Pork producers need to change their mindset away from mass medications using antibiotics as a first choice, says a professor of veterinary medicine. “In the future, I think we should be looking at vaccines as the default rather than antimicrobials,” said John Harding of the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine. “The reason […] Read moreHog antibiotics face tighter controls
New antibiotic regulations coming into effect next year will require pig producers to get their prescriptions from a vet. “There’s a lot of emphasis on veterinary oversight in the new regulations,” said Peter Provis, swine veterinary technical consultant for Elanco Animal Health. “The use of medically important antibiotics for growth promotion will no longer be […] Read more
Producers numb after fire destroys grain elevator
The skyline of Turtleford, Sask., was quickly changed on a windless night after fire destroyed one of the village’s two remaining wooden grain elevators Nov. 29. The 144,000 bushel storage was built in 1990 and sold in 2002 to Blair and Sherry McDonald, who farm near Turtleford. Blair McDonald said red flags went up for […] Read more
Rural policing goes outside the box
Options are being explored as crime rises in rural Saskatchewan and resources for rural policing are stretched thinner. “Our capacity to respond can only take us so far,” RCMP assistant commissioner Curtis Zablocki, commanding officer of F division, said during the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities’ midterm convention last month. “We need to come up […] Read more
Farmers frantic to beat snow
Harvest dust once again hangs heavy over prairie fields as warmer weather finally arrived in November, allowing producers to get their combines rolling. “Usually October is the harvest month,” said Alberta crop specialist Harry Brook. “The whole of October, I would call a washout.” Brook said this year’s harvest season has been a one-in-50-year event […] Read more
Taiwan to Saskatchewan: ‘the adjustment is in the mind’
A Vancouver-born boy married a Taiwan-born girl, settled in Saskatchewan and hopes to transition to organic farming
MACRORIE, Sask. — Gretchen Evans understands how the amount of personal space can shape and mould a person’s character and decisions. She was born on the island of Taiwan and moved to Canada in 1998. Evans knows what it’s like to live on land about the same size as Vancouver Island, but with about 24 […] Read more
RCMP urges calm amid ‘limited resources’
Rural crime rates are continuing to climb even while policing resources are being stretched, said RCMP officials during a Sept. 29 news conference in Saskatoon. “We know Saskatchewan (has) one of the highest crime rates in the country and it’s increasing. Rural crime is a component of that,” said Supt. Mike Gibbs, commander of the […] Read more
Richardson expands prairie input network with three new facilities
Construction is starting on three new Richardson Pioneer retail crop input centres in Saskatchewan that are expected to open for business by next harvest. Two of the facilities will be in Pasqua, near Moose Jaw, and Elrose. “These were two areas that were identified as opportunities for us to expand our reach and service more […] Read more
Spraying advice for dense canopies
STENAN, Sask. — Even experts can learn something new. It happened recently to Tom Wolf while demonstrating spray nozzle penetration techniques and canopy densities in breezy conditions at the Ag In Motion farm show earlier this summer. “We learned that no matter what we did with a double nozzle — low boom, high boom, fast, […] Read more
