A resolution that passed at last month’s Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention calls for the government to increase the time in which complaints can be made over pesticide damage, from 30 days to 12 months from when the incident occurred.  |  File photo

Spray drift concerns spark SARM resolution

Rural politicians asked for more teeth in regulations and for up to 12 months to report the damage from pesticide drift

REGINA — Rural residents who suspect spray drift has damaged their property are supposed to contact the applicator as soon as possible. But the current 30-day window isn’t long enough to determine whether or how much damage occurred, said a resolution at last month’s Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention. The resolution from the RM […] Read more

Sask. Crop Insurance acting CEO Jeff Morrow said the province’s crop insurance fund has been withdrawn, with almost $6 billion in claims in three years. This has forced the provincial Treasury Board Crown Corporation to increase premiums in order to build the fund back up.  |  File photo

Sask. farmer pans move to individual premiums

Crop insurance changed last year and consecutive drought years have pushed premiums too high, he says

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s move to individual crop insurance premiums was widely welcomed when introduced last year but at least one farmer said he preferred the program the way it was. Don Tremblay, who farms south of Moose Jaw and is reeve of the Rural Municipality of Hillsborough, said he believes the change has not been […] Read more

Cattle producers told the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities annual convention that wolf populations have exploded in some areas. | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo

Sask. rural municipalities call for wolf bounty program

REGINA — Saskatchewan rural municipal councils recently voted in favour of a wolf bounty, but environment officials said that is not under consideration right now. Cattle producers told the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities annual convention that wolf populations have exploded in some areas. Amanda Burback from the RM of Cote said that in 2022 […] Read more


The NDP opposition says the Saskatchewan government should have planned for a potentially serious drought instead of “sort of just crossing their fingers.”  |  File photo

Sask. pledges support if drought costs materialize

REGINA — Saskatchewan finance minister Donna Harpauer has always said a crop failure is her worst budget nightmare. The possibility of yet another drought in parts of the province loomed over her seventh and final budget delivered last week. She has announced she won’t run in the next election expected this fall. However, the financial […] Read more

A climate scientist says Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities delegates were correct to say that carbon dioxide occurs naturally, but the missing piece is “at appropriate levels.”  |  File photo

Sask. RMs take tough stance on carbon dioxide

SARM delegates overwhelmingly approve resolution rejecting ‘any policies that unduly target naturally occurring CO2’

REGINA — It’s unclear exactly what rural municipal delegates meant when they overwhelmingly passed a resolution about carbon dioxide last week at their annual convention. The resolution, submitted by the Rural Municipality of Tullymet on behalf of 30 RMs, called on the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities to “ensure that any policies that unduly target […] Read more


During a call with media on March 5 Jeff Morrow, SCIC president and chief executive officer, and Saskatchewan agriculture minister David Marit announced several changes and enhancements to the crop insurance programs. | File photo

Sask. crop insurance premiums drop

WINNIPEG — Saskatchewan farmers made about 14,200 crop insurance claims in 2023, which correlates to $1.85 billion in crop insurance payments. That is significantly less than 2021, a year of extreme drought in Western Canada, when Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. paid out $2.3 billion worth of claims just for annual crops. Thanks to another year […] Read more

Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities delegates voted 61 percent last week against a resolution asking the provincial government to stop implementing its marshals service.  |  Getty Images

Rural municipalities support new Saskatchewan marshals service

Saskatchewan rural councillors defeated a motion asking the provincial government to stop implementing its marshals service, but they still have questions about how it will work. At last week’s midterm convention of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, delegates voted 61 percent against the resolution from the RM of Elfros that observed the RCMP, which […] Read more