Ag News

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.

$700,000 is going to agricultural producers and local governments in an effort by the Water Security Agency to support water management projects.

The funding comes from a $1.5 million two-year commitment meant to support agricultural growth and sustainability in the province.

The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission are looking to round out their board of directors.

Nominations are now being accepted until September 6th for open director positions.

SaskBarley is hoping to fill three director positions, while Sask Wheat has four vacancies as it increases its board size from seven to eight directors.

All nominations must include the contact information of the nominee and signatures from at least two registered producers within the organization. 

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay was in Saskatchewan this week.

MacAulay announced an investment of over $4 million to the Western Grains Research Foundation.

The funding will go towards the WGRF's AgriScience Program - Clusters Component, part of the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

During his visit to Saskatchewan, the minister also visited Stone Farms in the Davidson area.

Stone Farms is owned and operated by Rob and Donna Stone.

The Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association has written to the Province's Agriculture Minister David Marit calling for more support for the beef industry.

Over the last few weeks the SCA held town hall meetings in various locations to talk about the impact of the drought and producer needs, those meetings attracted well over 400 producers.

SCA Chair Keith Day says they heard numerous concerns about current programs.