Cory Knutt

Farmers in Manitoba are wrapping up seeding ahead of schedule, and Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Jill Verwey says things are looking positive so far this spring.

“I actually was in in southeastern Manitoba on Monday and seemingly the crops are on average really favourable,” notes Verwey, who also farms in the Portage area. “I think for the most part, producers are finishing up seeding and certainly heading right into the spring season.”

The Canadian Beef Advisors (CBA) have released the 2025-30 National Beef Strategy. 

“The National Beef Strategy is about the future. We want people to know that the beef industry is preparing the way for the next generation”, states Bob Lowe, Chair of Public and Stakeholder Engagement.

In 2024, Farmers for Climate Solutions (FCS) commissioned market research firm Leger to conduct a national poll of Canadian producers during the 2024 growing season.

The goal was to:

The Moose Jaw Fire Department responded to a single-story house fire on the 800 block of Athabasca St. East Saturday morning shortly after 10 a.m.

Fire Chief Rod Montgomery says firefighters were able to quickly contain the fire.

"The crews were quick to get inside, knock that fire down, really within an hour had everything done and cleaned up," he commented.

He says nobody was home at the time of the blaze and the cause is still under investigation.

The extent of the damage and a dollar figure is unknown at this point.

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will have a new Team Lead heading into the 2024 season.

Major Brett Parker recently handed the reigns of Snowbird 1 over to Major Brent Handy.

For Parker, this was his second posting with the Snowbirds, the first being from 2010 to 2015. This most recent stint started near the end of 2020. He took over the Team Lead position in October of 2021.

Parker had dreams of becoming a member of the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron since he was a kid.

Last week, the Government of Saskatchewan released a new Action Plan for Mental Health and Addictions that plans to create 500 new addictions treatment spaces and a central intake system.

New funding will total $49.4 million when fully implemented in the fifth year of the plan. 

The new Action Plan has three pillars of focus: building capacity for treatment, improving the system itself, and transitioning to a recovery-oriented system of care for addictions treatment. 

Last week, the Government of Saskatchewan released a new Action Plan for Mental Health and Addictions that will create 500 new addictions treatment spaces and a central intake system.

New funding will total $49.4 million when fully implemented in the fifth year of the plan. 

The new Action Plan has three pillars of focus: building capacity for treatment, improving the system itself, and transitioning to a recovery-oriented system of care for addictions treatment. 

The Water Security Agency (WSA) says lake levels for Lake Diefenbaker are low due to the hot and dry weather conditions over southern Alberta during spring and early summer.

The historical average reservoir inflow during spring and early summer is 440 cubic metres per second (m3/s). 

In 2023, inflows averaged 125 m3/s (28% of the average).

The Water Security Agency has minimized outflows from Lake Diefenbaker while continuing to supply nearly 60% of the province’s population who rely on drinking water from the reservoir.

With the extreme heat, Saskatchewan was close to setting a new summer power consumption record Monday afternoon.

The province was at 3,478 megawatts on Monday, with the record being 3,551 set August 31, 2022.

SaskPower spokesperson Joel Cherry says there are a number of things they can do to make sure there's a reliable supply of electricity available for customers.

According to the latest provincial crop report, crops around Estevan are benefitting from the warmer temperatures.

Mackenzie Hladun, crops extension specialist with Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture, says crops in the southeast are continuing to develop at mostly normal rates for this time of year.

"Pulse crops are the most ahead in development for this time of year with 22 per cent of the crop ahead of normal. Oilseeds are the furthest behind in development with 19 per cent of crops behind normal stages of development for this time of year."