As the celebration of the Western Producer’s 100th anniversary year ends, it is interesting to look at comparisons from the 1920s to the 2020s. According to Statistics Canada, in 1921 there were 119,451 farms in Saskatchewan. In 2021 there were 34,128. The average farm size was 369 acres in 1921 and in 2021, the average […] Read more
Tag Archives Farm news
VIDEO: Radio reporters hustle to get agriculture news on the air
Always cheery, endlessly moving, oddly young-seeming — that’s the average farm broadcaster at farm and agriculture events. If you’ve been to many farm shows, you’ve probably seen a few. They’re often found holding a microphone in the face of farmers stopped along the rows and booths of a show or some bigwig thrown into a […] Read more
The Western Producer invites you to celebrate 100 years, and WIN BIG!
Complete fun challenges every day for 100 days within The Western Producer’s 100th Anniversary Daily Challenge app for chances to win. This year, The Western Producer marks 100 years of serving Western Canadian farm families with ag news, information and farm life content. The celebrations continue with the launch of The Western Producer 100 Daily […] Read more
Look back at the Nov. 4, 1943, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. War news dominated the front page of the Nov. 4, 1943, issue, with the exception of a story about a coal strike hitting Canada and the United States, […] Read more
Look back at the Oct. 3, 1935, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. Politics was the name of the game in the Oct. 3, 1935 issue, which I suppose was to be expected, considering the country was in the middle of […] Read more
Look back at Sept. 8, 1927
Continuing with my fascination over the lack of artwork on the front pages of 100-year-old Western Producers, I will note this week that three headshots appeared on the front page of the Sept. 8, 1927, issue. One of them was a curious choice for a western Canadian farm newspaper — Chief Justice Martin of Montreal, […] Read more
New option could make AgriStability simpler
Changes could be coming for AgriStability participants after agriculture ministers agreed to an optional new model at their annual meeting in Fredericton. Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said this should make the program simpler and more responsive. Few details are available, but provinces could choose to use a cash or accrual accounting method, she said […] Read more
Profitability the pathway to emissions reduction
Farmers should be obsessing about how to cut their crops’ nitrous oxide emissions. Every kilogram emitted represents much super-expensive fertilizer just farting away into the air, rather than feeding a money-making bushel. Instead, the divisive and caustic politics of climate change have so poisoned our ability to talk about carbon emissions that most seem to […] Read more
Forecast: Pea soupy, with unsettled ingredients
We're about to find out what remains after a long COVID winter
I’m bubbling like a pot of thick and hearty pea soup at the prospect of attending another St Jean Farm Days. I once took this small but vital farm show for granted, but after the pandemic struck down this and so many other regular farm gatherings I vow to never again be blasé about the […] Read more
Sask crop meetings go virtual
Saskatoon’s Crop Week live and hybrid meetings are the newest victims of the Omicron COVID virus. While the events are still running next week at the city’s exhibition grounds, the annual general meetings, related market updates and special seminars likely be sparsely attended after the organizers asked producers to dial-in rather than show-up. The Crop […] Read more
