Saskatchewan primed for opportunity in agriculture, says Premier Moe

The return of Canada’s Farm Show, previously known as Canada’s Farm Progress Show, in Regina, Sask., brought out thousands of industry reps, farmers and Saskatchewan’s Premier, Scott Moe.

With the first day of the show being geared toward the theme of innovation, Moe shared his admiration for the ideas that have turned into full fledged businesses within Saskatchewan and Western Canada as a whole.

Prairie Clean Energy, a Regina-based company, announced plans for a brand new flax straw processing facility at the show. The new venture will not only provide a solution for farmers that have to deal with flax residue, but also, will open up new overseas opportunities as the company will sell pelleted flax straw for biomass fuel — a market that has been impacted by the Russia/Ukraine war.

Moe also recognized not only the hard year experienced by many in the ag industry last year but the risk that is abundant this year with high input prices and ever-growing environmental targets. He says the province is looking at ways farmers could monetize the environmentally positive practices, like zero till, that have already been implemented in Saskatchewan.

Adding to the risk management side of the equation, Moe said Saskatchewan is trying to be proactive in the way it thinks about and implements strategies to help farmers mitigate business risk. Moe says he agrees, for the most part, with Alberta Agriculture Minister Nate Horner when he stated in a recent interview with RealAgriculture that the new Canadian Ag Policy Framework needs new dollars added into the program, to not dilute the funds already allocated for business risk programs.

Lastly, Moe wanted to assure Saskatchewan farmers and residents that the three-phase irrigation project is alive and well and has some very serious goals. Not only will the channels that will be developed out of Lake Diefenbaker be used, first and foremost, for on-farm application for farmers, but industrial and residential water security are also top of mind for the project, he said.

Overall, Moe said the future of agriculture in Saskatchewan looks bright as new investments and innovations have been announced at a regular rate, bolstering the industry’s status as a whole, not only in Canada, but around the globe.

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