Ag News

The Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association gave some participants in this week's Canadian Beef Industry Conference a taste of Saskatchewan.

CEO Grant McLellan says this is the first time the event has been held in Saskatchewan and they're excited to welcome everyone here.

He says the sold-out tour involved several stops at cattle operations around Saskatoon.

The tour stops focused on rotational grazing, Longhorns and a Farm-to-Fork business, a Simmental operation with a solar watering system, and a fifth generation farm established in 1906.

With the start of harvest season, you’ll likely come across farm equipment on highways and grid roads in Saskatchewan.  

Jeremy Pilon, communications consultant with SGI, reminds motorists to pay attention when they encounter slow-moving machinery on highways. “You come up to that machinery really quickly – especially at highways speeds.” 

Alberta's latest crop report shows the Provincial harvest is now three per cent complete.

The fall rye and winter cereal harvest is now at the halfway point in some areas. Farmers have started desiccating pulse crops, while other crops are just a few weeks away from maturity. 

The warm weather is pushing crops out of flowering with spring cereals in the soft dough stage, and 98 per cent of major broadleaves now podding.

The Canadian Entrepreneurs' Incentive program is undergoing some changes, but agriculture groups say that's not enough to help out farmers.

That's meant to help out small business owners with a tax break, but that's been out of reach for many farmers.

Kyle Larkin, the Executive Director at the Grain Growers of Canada, says now that's been changed but it may not be enough.

With strike action looming on the horizon railways in Canada are likely to be stopped next week.

CN and CPKC are both set to lock out workers on the 22nd, the date that a possible strike was set for by the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Vice president of grain for CN Rail David Przednowec says that the current labour situation is taking up a bulk of the current conversation in the industry.

Saskatchewan is seeing harvest continue with many cereal crops ready to go around the province.

Tyce Masich, a Crops Extension Specialist with Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture, talks about the current pace of the harvest.

Biosecurity is an important part of any farming operation with ranchers having to take special care for their own farm systems.

That can include managing disease risks wherever they pop up, including from outside sources.

Chelsea Siemens, a livestock and feed extension specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, talks about what biosecurity looks like on farms.

With farmers getting close to harvest they're taking an extra look at any diseases that could pop up this year, including verticillium stripe.

While more common in eastern portions of Manitoba, samples have been seen in fields all the west to Alberta.

The disease is a relative newcomer, with agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada Breanna Miller explaining its impact.

Manitoba is inching closer to harvest, but recent rainfall is slowing that down in some areas before machines can really get going.

The most recent crop report shows that harvest has kicked off in the more southern and central regions while those further north have yet to begin.

Manitoba Agriculture Cereal Crops Specialist Anne Kirk goes over some of the conditions they've seen over the last week.

SARM's President Ray Orb will be stepping down after 20 years on the board and nine years as president, leaving the organization in another's hands.

Orb will be succeeded by Vice President Bill Huber who will be acting president until a replacement is elected during the next annual SARM convention in March.

Orb announced earlier this year he wouldn't be running and is now leaving the post as he wants to enjoy the summer.