Farms.com Home  › News

APAS Pleased With Provincial Help for Farmers

Earlier this week the Saskatchewan government unveiled a relief package for farmers aimed at helping them through the drought season.

Included in the changes are the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation will be doubling its threshold for low yield appraisals on cereal or pulse crops.

"The ministry has put forward a pretty good practical plan and program with crop insurance that crop producers can partner with livestock producers," Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) President Todd Lewis said. "I think there's some real clarity about how they can go forward with having their crops baled at that stage or turning cattle out into standing crop."

The announcement also included alterations to the Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program for dugouts, wells and pipelines.

The first $50,000 spent will be a 50-50 cost-share split between the government and producers, and now the next $100,000 will be a 70-30 split with the government covering the lion's share.

"Drilling wells is not inexpensive and the grants from the province will be most welcomed," he said. "I think we're getting to the stage now where this is about really trying to protect the breeding herd this could have a long-term impact."

Lewis added another thing APAS is hoping to hear about is an update on Agri-Recovery.

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.