FortSask

Canola is looking at what could be yet another good year, following a few external factors.

This included the same issue that had affected most of Canadian agriculture, the war in Ukraine.

Neil Townsend, Senior Market Analyst at FarmLink Marketing Solutions, details some of the good points before a reverse began.

It's time to dust off your golf clubs because a local golf course is gearing up to open this week. 

The Fort In View course is set to open up its course to golfers on Friday (Apr. 14). 

"We're open on 27 holes," said Gord Hayward, the general manager of the course. "The course weathered really well over the winter and it's looking good." 

This is a rather early opening day for the course as compared to previous years. In 2022, the course opened up on April 28. 

"The weather was really cooperative, and we didn't have a lot of snow coverage," said Hayward. 

At their AGM, the Western Grains Research Foundation named their new chair along with some other directors.

Laura Reiter of Radisson, Saskatchewan is stepping into the position, replacing outgoing chair Dr. Keith Degenhardt.

The WGRF is a farmer-funded and farmer-directed non-profit organization that invests in agricultural research.

Reiter says that she's excited to keep working with the group.

Sturgeon County is a great place to do business, according to the results of a recent business survey. 

The survey was sent out to over 100 businesses in the county back in February to help the county better understand business needs in the region. 

"By going the survey route, it allowed us to have a consultant do a random sampling and essentially reach more businesses than we are able to with our small team," said Leanne McBean, the county's business retention expansion lead. 

It wasn't the ending that the U17 AAA Rangers wanted at provincials last weekend. 

The club won three of their four round-robin games, with the other being a tie, to qualify for the gold medal on Easter Sunday (Apr. 9). 

Their opponent was the Okotoks Oilers, who the Rangers had beaten 10-5 during round-robin play. 

Local artist Trisha Sheppard's stylistic portrayal of Fort Saskatchewan has garnered lots of attention from the city.

On Tuesday (Apr. 11) Sheppard was announced as the 2023 Art in Public Places program winner at the Dow Centennial Centre (DCC). She was awarded the honour through her work 'AN ARTIST VIEW', which shows a Seuss-esque portrayal of the trail near Ross Creek.

The Dow Centennial Centre (DCC) had an interesting activity over the Easter long weekend - rollerblading.

On Friday (Apr. 7) and Monday (Apr. 10), the DCC was open in the evening for all ages to bring their own rollerblades or roller skates and take a few trips around the dry rink.

"Once the ice came out and we had the dry pad, we wanted to offer something for the kids over their spring break," said Stacey Clements, services coordinator at the DCC.

As the spring seeding season is coming up, producers have a lot of options to consider when it comes to forages.

Agri-Environmental Specialist with the Ministry of Environment Chelsea Siemens says that starts simply with deciding your needs.

With COVID and the war in Ukraine, international wheat markets have been thrown for a loop over the past few years.

This upcoming grain market year could bring something different: an entire year that's decided by the weather, at least in the North American market.

Ranulf Glanville, the Chief Market Analyst at DePutter explains why.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith visited the town of Gibbons to speak with constituents.

On Tuesday (Apr. 11) evening, Smith met with Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally at the Gibbons Community Cultural Centre.

Almost 500 people attended the event, some of which travelled from as far as Calgary. The event began with speeches from Nally and Smith before continuing into a Q&A with Gibbons residents.

Some of the topics brought up included healthcare wait times, addiction treatment, accessibility to mental health support services, and rising energy costs.