Estevan

More than 67 per cent of the drugs seized during a month-long cross-country Canada Border Services Agency operation were coming into Canada from the United States, the agency says.

Operation Blizzard took place from Feb. 12 to March 13 and targeted illegal drugs and precursor chemicals transported by mail, air cargo or marine container, the CBSA said in a news release Wednesday. The agency said it focused on shipments going to the United States.

Prime Minister Mark Carney fielded questions about the trade war with the United States and his decision to delay the federal budget to the fall as he faced his first question period grilling in the House of Commons Wednesday.

Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer welcomed Carney to the House before launching into a question about Canada's response to U.S. tariffs.

"This is where democracy lives, and this is where we provide rigorous scrutiny on every word he says and every dollar he spends," Scheer said.

Green grass means that pasture turnout is right around the corner. The to do list gets longer than the days do. Checking fence to remove any fallen trees, repairing stretched or broken wires; make sure the water system is operational, and the water itself is safe for the livestock to drink. It all happens before animals can be moved to their summer home. 

This week's crop report shows provincially 85 per cent of the crop is in the ground; that is up from last week's report of 57 per cent and ahead of the 5-year average of 69 per cent. 

Oilseed Specialist Sonia Wilson puts together the weekly crop report and says most of the spring wheat, oats, barley, as well as grain and silage corn have gone in, while progress is also being made on the other crops.

Analysts say Agriculture Canada may have to cut its ending canola stocks estimate in half in response to booming exports

It is highly unusual to see a red number in the sea of black on Agriculture Canada’s monthly Grains and Oilseeds Supply and Disposition report.

But it happened in the May report when the department penciled in minus 609,000 tonnes for its canola feed, waste and dockage (FWD) number for the current crop year.

After more than five inches of rain delayed the start of the season, Grant Palmer of Palmer Enterprises Corp. and his crew are back in the field and pushing to finish seeding by the end of the week. 

“It’s going good,” Palmer said. “We got back at it Monday and hope to wrap up by Sunday night.” 

The best defence against flea beetles in canola is a fast-growing, uniformly emerging crop with five to eight plants per square foot that quickly reaches the four-leaf stage. However, unpredictable weather often forces growers to rely on plan B: foliar sprays.

To reduce the need for multiple sprays, consider these strategies.

Spray when flea beetles are active

The Saskatchewan chapter of the Royal Canadian Legion says it has cancelled events hosted by a group discussing the province's separation from the rest of Canada. 

Chad Wagner, the legion's executive director in Saskatchewan, says he made the decision based on Unified Grassroots' public statements on separation. 

He says such calls don't align with the legion's founding principles and nor do they promote Canadian unity.

Unified Grassroots has an online petition calling on Saskatchewan to negotiate new terms with Ottawa or look at separating from Canada.

The United Way's annual Day of Caring was once again a resounding success, bringing together community members across Estevan for a day of giving back.

Co-chair of the Day of Caring Committee Wendy Gustafson said the event, held under sunny skies and near-perfect weather, went very smoothly thanks to strong community support.

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency updated the province's residents yesterday on the currently ongoing wildfire season, as crews are working to get a number of those contained. Currently, Saskatchewan has seen 205 wildfires year to date, with 21 of those currently active across the province.

The year-to-date number is much higher than last year, which was 165, with the five-year average much lower at 124.

Steve Roberts, Vice President of Operations for the SPSA, says the numbers mean there's a lot of work to be done by their crews.