Livestock producers can count on more face time with Saskatchewan Agriculture staff in the new year.
Expanded extension services were among priorities addressed in the recent provincial throne speech.
Saskatchewan agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud said extension services have been underused since the closure of rural service centres in 2004.
“After closing them, they never really replaced that information out to producers,” he said.
Bjornerud plans to look for gaps in current services, get feedback from farmers and expand into areas not covered by the private sector, with special emphasis paid to livestock producers.
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While the Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Moose Jaw is seen as a catch-all for addressing questions, Bjornerud felt farmers also need a more hands-on approach.
“There’s nothing wrong with going out to the farm and working with producers and I think we’ve been somewhat remiss in not providing that service and I think we want to do that again,” he said.
He has no plans to add staff or change the knowledge centre, just share more of the department’s resources and expertise with farmers.
“We’ve had people in place but haven’t let them go out and do on-farm visits and that’s what I want to change,” Bjornerud said.
He said the former network of district agrologists was well respected and provided a valuable service to producers.
“To a degree, that’s where we need to get back to,” he said.
“One of our responsibilities is to help producers keep up with the changing times.”
