Name change
The Saskatchewan Council for Community Development Inc. has a new name and a new chair.
At its recent annual general meeting, members voted to change the organization’s name to the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan (ACS).
The new name is meant to more accurately reflect the core activities of the organization and its members.
ACS will continue to offer much of the same programming, including Agriculture Canada-funded programs such as the Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Saskatchewan (ACAAFS) program and the Biofuels Opportunities for Producers Initiative (BOPI).
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It will also continue to be home to the Saskatchewan Agri-Food Value Chains Initiative and the Centre for Agribusiness Training and Education.
To date, the ACS board has approved 159 projects for an ACAAFS commitment of $8.7 million and 11 projects for a BOPI commitment of $1.9 million.
The council also elected producer Murray Purcell as board chair. Valerie Pearson was re-elected vice-chair and Darrell Schneider was elected secretary-treasurer.
Scholarship winners
Canadian Western Agribition’s scholarship committee has announced six $1,000 scholarship recipients for the 2007-08 academic year:
- Fawn Jackson, a Charolais exhibitor and past 4-H international judging competition participant from Inglis, Man. Jackson is studying agriculture at the University of Alberta.
- Courtney McDougall, an Agribition sheep exhibitor from Regina who is pursuing a degree in social work at the University of Regina.
- Bethany Yewsuk, an Angus exhibitor from Wishart, Sask., who is entering the second year of her two-year agronomy diploma at the University of Saskatchewan.
- Caitlyn Houser, a Salers exhibitor from Neudorf, Sask., who is entering the second year of her two year animal health technology diploma program at Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alta.
- Tyler Libke, a Simmental exhibitor from Hanley, Sask., who is entering the second year of a two year livestock production diploma program at Lakeland College.
- Peter McDougall, an Agribition sheep exhibitor from Regina, who is entering the second year of a four year bachelor of science degree at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
Established in 1994, the Agribition scholarship fund supports the educational goals of young people who have taken part in Agribition.
The 37th edition of Canadian Western Agribition will be held Nov. 19-24 in Regina.
CN donations
Canadian National Railway has announced charitable contributions worth more than $30,000 to groups and organizations in three Saskatchewan communities.
Recipients include the Melville, Sask., and District Donor’s Choice ($6,800), the Biggar, Sask, and District Donor’s Choice ($5,000), the Biggar Fire Department ($10,000) and the Health Foundation of East Central Saskatchewan, based in Yorkton, Sask., ($10,000).
The Biggar Fire Department will use its donation to buy a thermal imaging camera.
The health foundation will use its money to buy a digital mammography machine for the Yorkton Regional Health Centre.
Flax website
The Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission has a new website at www.saskflax.com.
The revamped site is part of a larger effort to improve services for flax producers.
It is designed to improve access to important information for an estimated 15,000 flax producers in Saskatchewan.
Prominent on the new website is information on the Flax Development Commission’s agri-environmental group plan.
It also contains information on plant use and emerging opportunities in the fibre market.
Early in 2008, the commission will organize two events for flax producers.
The first will be Flax Day on Jan. 7, during Crop Production Week in Saskatoon.
The second is a two-day workshop in February on the topic of effective flax straw management.
Details on these events and upcoming board elections will be posted on the new website.
