Estevan

With harvest nearly completed here in southeast Saskatchewan, farmers are beginning to look towards either fall spraying for weeds or pre-banding fertilizer for next year's crop. One thing that should also be top of mind is disease pressure, including clubroot in canola fields. 

The Eagle Sky Estevan Bruins fought hard over the weekend, coming out with points in two different games and their first win of the season.

Between an overtime loss to the Nipawin Hawks on Friday and a win against the Flin-Flon Bombers on Saturday, the team is looking to reverse the fortunes from its earlier losses.

Head Coach Jason Tatarnic says the games did start out a bit rough with their game against the Hawks.

September is known as the month when temperatures start coming down, but sometimes the month continues to produce summer heat in the Estevan area.

Environment Canada's weather data shows that the region did see some summer-like conditions in what was nearly a record-breaking month in terms of heat.

Meteorologist Danielle Desjardins lays out the conditions which the area saw over that month.

The Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israel last year, and the immediate Israeli retaliation that followed, sent shockwaves throughout the world that have shaken Canada culturally and politically.

Here is a look at some of the major developments in Canada related to the conflict.

Oct. 7, 2023 — Hamas-led militants launched air and ground attacks on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages. The attacks, followed hours later by Israeli counterattacks in the Gaza Strip, marked the beginning of the current Israel-Hamas war. 

Thousands of kids across Canada benefit from 4-H programming each year.

Ben Graham, chair of the Canadian 4-H Foundation says 4-H has an enormous impact on our youth.

"It's about team building, learning parliamentary procedure, how you run a meeting, and how to public speak. It's about how to manage projects, whether it's computers or dogs - canine, whether it's beef cattle. It's a real diverse opportunity for kids to learn skills that help them become better leaders and contributors to their community."

Beyond Ready is this year's theme for National 4-H Week.

The Canadian Crop Hail Association member companies are investigating 630 claims of crop damage from isolated storms that hit farms across Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan during the week of September 16-22.

Rodney Schoettler of Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance noted that September brought an unexpected surge in claims:

He says the claim count is much higher than typical [for this time of year] and the severity of losses at this stage is costly to producers and insurers.

Farmers are making some good progress with the harvest. 

The latest crop reports show in Manitoba, 73 per cent of the provincial crop is now in. 

This week's crop report shows there's still some spring wheat, barley and oats to come in.

The canola harvest is now at 78 percent complete, dry beans are at 60 per cent, soybeans at 29 percent,  17 per cent of the flax is now in with the corn harvest just getting underway in Eastern Manitoba.

In Saskatchewan, 91 per cent of the crop is now in with harvest most advanced in the southwest at 99  per cent complete.

The Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association will begin their next round of fall district meetings this week.

The next meeting is scheduled for tomorrow in Melfort from 1 til 5 at the Kerry Vicker Centre.

CEO Grant McLellan says it's a great opportunity for producers to find out what's going on in the industry, and give their input on the focus of the organization. 

Emotional mourners gathered by the hundreds in cities across Canada on Sunday to honour the victims of Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the still raging war in Gaza and roiled tensions in the Middle East and beyond.

In the nation's capital, a sea of Israeli flags could be seen draped over participants in front of Ottawa City Hall, with Canadian flags waving alongside them as they called for the release of hostages still being held in Gaza.

With the provincial election having the writ dropped earlier this week, candidates are now looking to make themselves known ahead of the election.

That includes Lori Carr, the current MLA who's running for the Saskatchewan Party in the Estevan-Big Muddy riding.

Carr says that she's closely connected with the area that she'll be running in.