Noxious weeds; Track matter; Much consumption; Grow food; Water quality
Noxious weeds
Regarding the article “Organic sector wary of weed act changes” (WP. Feb. 26), Saskatchewan Agriculture feels it is important to outline some of the changes that are being proposed to the Noxious Weeds Act.
It was first passed in 1909 to address the direct negative economic impact that invasive plants have on agriculture and there have been a number of revisions since. It is important to understand that all producers and land owners are presently bound by the Noxious Weeds Act, 1984, whether organic or conventional producers.
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The act contains fines that may be levied in a provincial court for offences stated in the act. A copy and its related regulations are located at www.publications.gov.sk.ca/details.cfm?p=742.
The proposed revisions include the separation of named weeds into three categories according to their distribution in Saskatchewan and likelihood of eradication. These changes are being proposed to benefit all producers and land owners by preventing the establishment of new weeds and the spread of problem weeds.
Many common weeds such as wild oat, green foxtail, wild mustard and wild buckwheat are proposed to be removed from the list.
The current act requires problem weeds to be controlled in the same year they are identified using whatever means required, including chemical herbicides. The proposed revisions would allow parties to work together to develop multi-year management plans to control the identified problem weeds using a combination of methods such as biological, manual, cultural, mechanical or herbicides.
This would allow organic producers the opportunity to retain their certification while addressing problem weeds on their land over a period of several years.
Saskatchewan Agriculture has provided a full description of these and other proposed changes to municipalities, producer groups and interested parties during an extensive consultation program that has recently ended.
The input we have received from all parties will be considered when revising the act.
– Clark Brenzil,
Provincial Specialist,
Weed Control,
Regina, Sask.
Track matter
Elizabeth M. Roberts’ March 26 letter to The Western Producer entitled “Save the track” contains a number of factual errors that clearly indicate a less-than-complete understanding of the discontinuance process.
To clarify, CN has begun the federally regulated discontinuance process on rail operations between Oyen and Lyalta, Alta., as this rail line is simply no longer viable. CN provided an acceptable level of service for the line’s small number of local customers, which generated only limited amounts of sporadic traffic.
The majority of trains that operated on this line for many years consisted of intermodal traffic between Calgary and Eastern Canada. This traffic has now been re-routed to another CN line.
Those who believe the line between Oyen and Lyalta can be viable have ample opportunity to acquire it through the fair, rigorous and federally regulated Canada Transportation Act discontinuance process.
CN will work in good faith with all parties, including the provincial and municipal governments, while following the timelines as outlined in the act. We have already met with several local municipal representatives, most recently in Drumheller on March 16, to discuss the process even before the line is listed for sale.
Finally, this is not considered a grain-dependent line in the Canada Transportation Act, a designation that is determined solely by the federal government.
– Kelli Svendsen,
Regional Manager,
CN Public and Government Affairs,
Vancouver, B.C.
Much consumption
Last month I experienced first-hand what happens when the oxygen in the house is consumed and replaced with carbon monoxide.
After making it to the door, all I had to do was open it and breathe in the life-giving fresh air made possible by our forests and oceans.
What happens when we destroy our environment with our excessive consumption? And by a political system that rewards consumption with a seeming disrespect for our environment, all in the name of economic growth?
Do we really need more and more and more stuff to put into our large houses, for which the majority of us work most of our life, and as pampered consumers in an increasingly sterile and artificial environment? This in a system we already know cannot continue indefinitely.
One writer in Countryside & Small Stock Journal says it this way: “A respect for nature, a desire for maximum personal self reliance and creative leisure, a concern for family nurture and community cohesion, a belief that the primary reward of work should be well-being rather than money; a certain nostalgia for the supposed simplicities of the past and an anxiety about the technological and bureaucratic complexities of the present and the future, and a taste for the plain and the functional.”
– Andrew Heinrichs,
Montney, B.C.
Grow food
In response to the letter called “Expensive food” (Open Forum, March 26), please take into consideration cheaper food prices.
(Much of the) Real Canadian Superstore produce is picked and processed by people who receive little pay and live in poverty. …
In many cases produce at farmers’ markets is produced by a farm wife and husband, with children, grandchildren and neighbours giving a hand. A love of what they do keeps them motivated. …
Last year, our three children and I raised 70 chickens. Eleven went to the neighbours. When they told us they were delicious, we were proud of our accomplishments as chicken producers.
The kids used some of their money for Lego and some went to their college fund. The rest paid for the chicks, heat lamp, electricity, mineral and feed.
I grew up in the city and it was a rare time that I enjoyed anything locally grown and freshly picked.
Consider using or starting a community garden plot to cut your food costs. Find a senior or senior couple and offer to help maintain their garden plot. You’ll nurture a new relationship.
You will be surprised at how many veggies you can produce in a tiny plot. Start a mini greenhouse in a south window. There are so many options.
Just be aware that the packets of seeds are getting smaller and more pricey. You will be floored at how good your carrots taste in February.
– Barbara Onofreychuk,
MacNutt, Sask.
Water quality
The government of Manitoba’s recent throne speech on March 25 includes a statement identifying more research being undertaken to reduce nutrient loading into Lake Winnipeg.
This comes at the right time as Ducks Unlimited Canada’s new water quality research in the Broughton’s Creek watershed in southwest Manitoba shows the need to assist landowners as a critical component in stopping wetland loss and further reducing nutrient loading.
Algae blooms on Lake Winnipeg are symptomatic of increased nutrients being delivered from upstream watersheds. When wetlands are lost, significant amounts of phosphorus, nitrogen and other pollutants are allowed to be released from the landscape and into our water systems.
The benefits of wetlands also include purification of air, carbon sequestration, ground water recharge, erosion control, biodiversity and flood attenuation.
But wetlands continue to be lost in Manitoba at an alarming rate. In fact, 70 percent of wetlands have disappeared or have been degraded in settled areas of the province.
DUC is proud to be a partner in the province’s current Wetland Restoration Incentive Program, which encourages landowners to restore wetlands, but while the program is an important first step in restoring lost wetlands, it still does not accomplish the necessary goal of protecting existing wetlands.
With the mention of developing a new wetlands protection and restoration initiative in the throne speech, DUC encourages the province to complement this restoration program with a comprehensive wetland policy that protects all wetlands in Manitoba….
– Bob Grant,
Manager Provincial Operations,
Ducks Unlimited Canada,
Brandon, Man.
