Ag News

The federal government has announced new funding for grain research in western Canada focused on a number of topics.

Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, announced the investment of over $4 million to the Western Grains Research Foundation.

That will go towards the WGRF's AgriScience Program – Clusters Component, part of the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

The Canadian Cattlemens Association announced their nominees for the TESA awards, looking to give recognition to those producers who help with the local environment.

The Environmental Stewardship Award has been given out for 26 years, with the CCA "recognizing beef producers who explore innovative ways to protect, preserve, and enhance their operations and the environment simultaneously".

The nominees hail from seven different provinces and include:

Saskatchewan is playing host to this year's Tri-National Agricultural Accord, a series of meetings between American, Mexican, and Canadian agriculture interests.

After yesterday's welcome reception at the Sheraton Cavalier Hotel in Saskatoon, the three countries will engage in talks throughout the day with concurrent meetings.

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit says that the event is important to highlight the current and future relationships between countries.

Nitrogen is one of the most important parts of farming, with producers making sure their crops end up getting the perfect amount.

One program dedicated to making sure producers are aware of some best practices is the 4R method.

Thom Wier, a consultant for the Canola Council of Canada, details one upcoming presentation that'll let farmers know what the system's all about.

An application has been filed with the Natural Resources Conservation Board for proposed changes at a confined feeding operation in the MD of Willow Creek.

The application has come from the Cayley Hutterite colony.

They want to change the layout of permitted pens on the site.

They're also looking at changing the location and dimensions of the permitted catch pond and extending the deadline for construction until the end of November.

A written response can be filed with the NRCB by anyone deemed directly affected by the plan.

Many west-central Saskatchewan producers are in the heart of harvest. The most recent crop report for the period of August 1-7 was released on Thursday as producers are busy harvesting and checking fields for maturity levels.

As farmers are getting to work on harvest, many are using desiccants to spray down crops to get them to dry out quicker.

Those chemicals come with a bevy of rules and regulations, explains Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Crop Extension Specialist Mackenzie Haldun.

With the approaching fall season, railways are getting ready to ship a lot of grain soon.

That includes CN Rail, with Assistant Vice President of Grain David Przednowick saying that they're trying to estimate those crop sizes by the end of the month.

Avian influenza had a big effect on poultry farms in 2022, but 2023 seems to be a bit quieter on that front.

That's confirmed by Wendy Wilkins, a disease surveillance veterinarian with the livestock branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, who says they've seen zero cases so far.

That's also true for poultry producers across the country.

Harvest is underway in Saskatchewan according to the newest crop report, released today showing off that progress.

According to that harvest is now 4 per cent complete in Saskatchewan, ahead of the 5 and 10-year average of 2 per cent. 

Crop Extension Specilaist with the Ministry of Agriculture Mackenzie Hladun describes the progress of various crops.