Dylan Fiessel

Yesterday, at the Western Canadian Crop Production Show in Saskatoon, SK, a new brand was announced. SaskCanola and SaskFlax announced that they would be amalgamating under one brand called SaskOilSeeds. While this amalgamation isn’t brand new, in fact, they officially merged together on August 1st, 2024, this announcement marks a new chapter in oilseeds for producers in Saskatchewan. Tracy Broughton is the executive director of the new SaskOilSeeds brand, and she talks about why this merger was needed, and how it will help producers of Saskatchewan oilseeds in the future. 

The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings are 5-0 to start the 2025 calendar year. I was joined by Jaxson Ruthven and Luke Schraeder on Wednesday with the Wings talking about their success, overcoming adversity, new acquisitions, B.C. connections, and their new snow shoveling business. 

The Weyburn Lacrosse Association have been busy this year, including today as their Little Thrashers Lacrosse Academy has gotten underway, helping those aged 8 and under learn and enjoy the sport of lacrosse. Staci Labrecque is the president of the Weyburn Lacrosse Assocation who states the overwhelming excitement for the academy. 

January 10th is the trade deadline day for the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) which includes the SJHL and the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings. Teams have until 5:00 P.M. to submit and conduct trades before they close for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season. After the deadline passes, teams and roster must be reduced to a maximum of 25 players.  

Farmland values continue to rise and as producers head into the 2025 growing year, operations will have to take a calculated approach to either expanding their business or even just staying competitive. Farmland values within Canada increased by 11.5% in 2023 and 12.8% in 2022. Farm Credit Canada or FCC reports on these increasing farmland values and will release a full report for the 2024 year expected in March 2025. Justin Shepherd is a senior economist with FCC who sheds some light on the rise of land prices over the last few years. 

The Weyburn Agricultural Society is hosting its annual general meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the board room at the Weyburn Agricultural Society office building, located beside the Exhibition Hall in the Ag Fair Grounds. 

The meeting was originally scheduled to happen back on December 18th but due to inclement weather and the upcoming Christmas season, they decided to re-schedule it for tonight.  

Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan’s annual general meeting or AGM is on January 8th. It is an online AGM both recapping the 2024 year as well as looking ahead to the 2025 growing year. Anyone interested is invited to join and learn about the inner workings of Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan and will be introduced to a new organization created in partnership called Canadian Food Focus. Clinton Monchuk, program director with Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan, is excited for this new organization to help bring food awareness to more urban centers. 

Farm Transition Appreciation Day or FTADay is on Thursday, January 9th, 2025. This day looks at farm transitions and how important it is to have a good plan when wanting to transition the farm from one generation or one owner to the next. It also sheds light on some success stories of Canadian farms transitioning smoothly and finds better ways to do it in the future. Nick Oakley is a business development lead with Farm Management Canada who talks about the importance of a day like FTADay. 

Farm Transition Appreciation Day or FTADay is on January 9th, 2024. This day looks at farm transitions and how important it is to have a good plan when wanting to transition the farm from one generation or one owner to the next. It also sheds light on some success stories of Canadian farms transitioning smoothly and finds better ways to do it in the future. Nick Oakley is a business development lead with Farm Management Canada who talks about the importance of a day like FTADay. 

As Canadian producers look forward to the 2025 growing year, cereal rotations are an integral part of their plans before hitting the field. Malt barley will be a big part of that as producers look to cash in on the premiums associated with malt barley. Primarily grown for beer production, malt barley differs from regular barley because it needs to be kept alive before heading to the breweries and food processors.