(Dave Bedard photo)

Saskatchewan pares ag spending in estimates

Spending estimates released without revenue forecasts

Saskatchewan expects to pull back its spending on agriculture by about $22.4 million in its 2020-21 budget year, mainly in a reduced outlay on business risk management (BRM) programs. Provincial Finance Minister Donna Harpauer on Wednesday tabled the province’s 2020-21 spending estimates with the “unusual step” of not including revenue forecasts, citing the current COVID-19 […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Manitoba reviewing underused forage insurance plans

About 18 per cent of forage acres insured

The Manitoba government is taking a look at its Crown crop insurance agency’s relatively under-subscribed offerings to forage growers. The provincial ag department said Tuesday it has launched a review “to better understand the purchasing decisions of Manitoba producers when it comes to forage insurance products” available via Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC). Over 1,200 […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Hay disaster benefit kicks in for Manitoba growers

Eligible Manitoba forage growers can expect to share in a $5 million hay disaster benefit (HDB) for the 2019 crop year. Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC), the provincial crop insurance agency, announced Friday that the HDB has been activated and benefit payments to eligible forage producers on about 1,500 claims will begin “shortly.” The HDB, […] Read more

File photo of Little Manitou Lake, just north of Watrous, Sask. (Dougall_Photography/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan to relocate ag extension office

The Saskatchewan government is set to make housemates of one of its crop insurance offices and one of its ag extension service sites east of Saskatoon. The province announced Wednesday it will relocate an existing agriculture extension services office from Watrous in March, moving it about 80 km north to the city of Humboldt. “We […] Read more








Emerging corn plants in Canada. (Sophie-Caron/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan offers up corn rainfall insurance plan

Saskatchewan’s crop insurance offerings for 2019 will include a new program allowing corn growers to insure against a substantial drop in moisture. The provincial and federal government on Feb. 26 rolled out Saskatchewan’s 2019 crop insurance program, in which coverage levels on average are to reach a record $230 per acre, up from $216 last […] Read more