WestCentral

Alberta Agriculture's latest crop report shows two per cent of the crop has been combined. That's down from the 5-year average of eight per cent and the 10-year average of six per cent.

Warm, dry conditions in the Southern part of the province are helping with the harvest, while the cooler temperatures in the North West, North East, and Peace regions are slowing crop maturity and delaying harvest.

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) are calling for swift action to address ongoing trade tariffs that continue to impact farmers.

APAS met with Kody Blois, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister when he was in Saskatoon for last week's canola meeting. 

APAS President Bill Prybylski emphasized the urgency of resolving tariff disputes with China and the United States, which have disrupted normal trade flows and hurt our agricultural economy.

The Alberta government is streamlining its process for restoring watersheds.

The province is removing the requirement to have a temporary diversion licence as part of a riparian restoration project.

The government said it expects the change to cut red tape, keep plants alive and ensure that the time and money put into watershed restoration projects are not wasted.

“Freedom to water is about cutting through the clutter of bureaucracy so real work can happen,” provincial environment minister Rebecca Schulz said in a press release.

Canada’s declining productivity, supply chain woes and political decisions all affect trade with its neighbour

As vexing as the current trade environment might be, Canada has to recognize there were issues long before U.S. president Donald Trump and his on-again, off-again tariffs came along, said panelists at a policy summit last month.

“We’re not really in a different place,” said Cal Bricker, chief executive officer of Spirits Canada.

A Saturday night call north of town for the Kindersley Fire Department kept crews on scene into the early morning hours on Sunday.

At 10:22 on Saturday night the fire department was sent to a major shop fire just north of Kindersley, located west of Highway #21 just a short drive away from town. Two pumper units, one wildland, one aerial, one utility, two water tenders, and a command unit arrived on scene.

SaskEnergy will perform controlled natural gas flaring at the Luseland Town Border Station on Monday, August 25, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., the company announced, cautioning residents and drivers in the area to expect a temporary 40-foot flame.

A hot end to August, paired with ramping up harvest activity, could raise the risk of crop fires across the region. Unfortunately, mischief and other crime related activity also tend to be a main contributor, as both of the mentioned scenarios nearly sparked a bad situation within the last 30 days.

As summer in the southwest gives way to school season, it's an ideal time to get up to date on vaccinations and immunizations.

A widespread SaskTel outage forced businesses, service groups and emergency services across West Central Saskatchewan to scramble for alternate contact methods on Friday.

The disruption, reported shortly before 9 a.m. CST, left SaskTel wireless customers unable to make outgoing calls. The company confirmed the outage also affected Business Integrated Communications (IBC) and VoIP phone systems.

As global trade dynamics shift and tariffs become more of a concern, Canada’s canola industry is looking inward.

Andre Harpe, chair of the Canadian Canola Growers Association and a farmer from Grand Prairie, Alberta, says the industry needs to focus more on renewable fuel as a strategy to support growers and build long-term resilience.