Ag News

The assistant vice president of marketing and sales for bulk with CPKC took part in the Transportation Elevator and Grain Merchants Association meetings last week in Kansas City.

Elizabeth Hucker says the drought in Western Canada was a key topic of discussion.

"The overall theme though and I got a lot of questions about it, was corn to Alberta.  CPKC  is ready to move corn to southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan to help feed the herd down in those locations, as we did in the 2021- 2022 drought year."

It's been a long, hot dry summer, especially difficult for area agriculture producers.

The Director of Ag Services for Vulcan County Kelly Malmberg says harvest is in full swing for some, unprecedented for how early it started.

"As everybody expected the rains came too late this year so pretty poor crops, yields are way down. Some silver linings, the crops are pretty thin so I'm hearing on the cereals, the bushel weights on wheat are weighing up but a really low yield," 

The Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association is pleased to see the province step up to help support livestock producers struggling to maintain their herd with the drought.

Agriculture Minister David Marit announced $70 million dollars Monday to help livestock producers dealing with the increasing cost of buying and transporting feed or animals while still trying to maintain their herd.

Funding will be delivered through the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation and allows eligible producers to receive up to $80 per head to maintain breeding stock.

Agriculture Minister David Marit announced $70 million dollars for livestock producers dealing with the drought and the increasing cost of buying and transporting feed while trying to maintain their herd.

Funding will be delivered through the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation and allows eligible producers to receive up to $80 per head to maintain breeding stock.

Marit says it's pretty well covered in this one they did all breeding stock including bulls and replacement heifers.

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay has announced the initial list of designated regions in Western Canada for the 2023 Livestock Tax Deferral.

So far,  62 areas in BC, 56 counties in Alberta, 98 RM's in Saskatchewan, and 19 RM's in Manitoba are on the initial deferral list.

The announcement comes days after the Minister made a visit to the prairies last week.

Livestock producers that are concerned about feed supplies will want to check out the forage straw drop-off program.

The program was developed by the Saskatchewan Stock Growers and the Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission in an effort to help address feed concerns with the ongoing drought.

A forage straw drop-off is being organized with S-F-S-D-C producers in northeast Saskatchewan.

Verticillium Stripe is a fungal disease that was first discovered in Canadian canola crops in 2014, the disease causes lodging and yield loss in canola.

Courtney Boyachek,  an agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada says it's a soil-borne disease.

"Meaning that,  it overwinters in the soil and then it germinates in the soil in the Spring and then the plant uptakes it around flowering."

She says in order to identify the disease producers will want to cut the stem of the canola plant off right at the root.

Over the years G3 has been a strong proponent of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association's  "BeGrainSafe" program.

G3 has funded training for hundreds of professional and volunteer firefighters and purchased specialized grain rescue 
equipment for dozens of rural fire departments across the Prairies, Ontario, and Quebec. 

Peter Chura, G3's corporate communications specialist, says working with moving grain and grain entrapment is a significant risk on the farm and it's something that they're happy to help mitigate the risk of.

With crops dried out for harvest, that can also pose a decent fire risk that farmers in their combines should be ready for.

Whether through a mechanical breakdown, the machinery running too hot, or just a freak accident, fires should be something every farmer is prepared for.

Mike Kwasnica, President of the Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs, details some of those tips.

Producers in the west-central region are ahead of the five-year average for harvest progress this week. Currently, harvest is nine per cent complete in the region, ahead of the five-year average of six per cent. Persistent dry and warm conditions have allowed crops to dry down and be harvest ready.

Producers are nearing the end of harvesting their fall cereals this week, with 95 per cent of winter wheat and 85 per cent of fall rye in the bin for the year.