Author: Nicole Czemeres

RCMP Constable Kyle Kifferling is living the dream.

“Growing up on a farm near Southey I was always around RCMP members,” he said. “I always knew I wanted to be a police officer ever since I was small.”

When he was 16, he did a work experience placement at the local detachment that solidified the dream. As soon as he was finished high school he applied and within months he was at depot in Regina.

Fresh out of depot he was assigned to Bella Bella, a remote fly-in-only detachment  in British Columbia. From there it was off to Fort St. John, B.C. for two years where his boss was associated with the Musical Ride. It inspired Kifferling to apply.

“I wouldn’t say I was a rider,” he said. “Growing up in Saskatchewan, obviously, I’ve been on horses before, but not really knowing what I was doing.”

Ironically, most of the Mounted Police these days have rarely, if ever, ridden horses, but that’s nothing a rigourous training program can’t fix.

“It’s a long six months in the saddle,” Kifferling said. “They teach you from zero on up.”

The intensive preparation works.

“Doing my first show in red serge in front of a crowd, I had the butterflies at first, but once you get in there and the music gets going you settle down,” he said.

Kifferling is currently in his last year with the ride. The RCMP rotates members out after three years.

The Ride has been a very rewarding posting.

“First and foremost we are police officers,” he said. “When you’re interacting, most of the time it’s on a negative basis, responding to calls, fighting crime I guess is how you could put it, whereas the Ride is a good vehicle for us to have that connection with the public in a positive light. So going around Canada and into small communities and having that positive atmosphere is great for the RCMP.

– See more at: http://www.yorktonthisweek.com/entertainment/local-a-e/mounted-spectacle-pleases-ex-crowds-1.1995630#sthash.yet3nCwn.dpuf

Drainage Conference Flyer for Earl Grey

Provincial Drainage –

Water Management Conference

A Realistic Approach To Water Management for Agriculture Producers

Monday, December 7, 2015

Earl Grey Hall

Earl Grey, Saskatchewan

9:30 am – Opening Remarks – Water Security Agency

9:45 am – New Water Security Agency Drainage Regulations

Doug Johnson, Manager of Integrated Water Services, Water Security Agency

10:30 am – Qualified Persons and Drainage Approvals – Julie McKenzie, PAg

11:00 am – Outline of the New Drainage Complaint Process

Dwayne Rowlett, Manager, Nipawin Water Security Agency Regional Office

12:00 pm – Lunch

1:00 pm – A producer’s prospective on the benefits of forming Conservation and Development Areas Charlie Templeton – Okabena Conservation and Development Area #176

1:30 pm – A Realistic Prospective on the Impact of Agriculture Drainage

TBD

2:00 pm – Connecting Rural Municipalities to Emergency Response Situations and the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program – Saskatchewan Ministry of Government Relations

2:45 pm – Coffee

3:00 pm – Available Funding for Agriculture Water Management Projects

TBD

3:30 pm – Emergency Flood Damage Control Program

Gary Neil – EFDP Program Manager Water Security Agency

Register for the Conference by contacting Colleen Fenning at 306-946-6533or email to info@wuqwatr.ca before NOVEMBER 30, 2015

Cost: $75 per person (includes lunch)

2016 Subsidized Trees Shelterbelt Program Launch

I am pleased to announce the launching of the 2016 Shelterbelt Program from HELP’s new 160 acre tree farm a few miles outside of Weyburn.  HELP has produced and harvested an unprecedented 600,000 container root tree seedlings for the 2016 program.  This program builds on our 2015 program that marketed close to 300,000 subsidized $1.50  trees to landowners across all three prairie provinces.

Type of Trees

I am pleased to inform that 100% of the trees provided for the 2016 program are container root trees produced at HELP nurseries at Weyburn.  Container root seedlings are considered by many to be far more superior to bare root varieties for the reason that container root seedlings can be transported and planted while dormant or while in full leaf during the growing season.  However, spring or fall planting are still considered the best options.

Program Roll-Out Saturday, November 8, 2015

Beginning Saturday, November 8, HELP will be taking application for trees.  As per promise, the HELP subsidized rate of $1.50 per seedling for shelterbelt quantities of 300 trees or more combining all varieties ordered continues. Price is $2.50 per seedling for global orders less than 300 seedlings. HELP will not consider orders less than 50 trees global order.  This helps to protect private greenhouse interests.

Any order of 50 trees or more is considered a shelterbelt program.  So this is the simple method HELP is using to allow farms, schools, towns, and environmental organizations to qualify.  That is, if someone is ordering 50 trees or more HELP assumes the trees are not being used for strictly ornamental reasons.

November Early Bird Discount

HELP is offering an unprecedented 6% discount for November tree orders.

Methods of Ordering

There are several ways of ordering trees. To order trees the public can:

1. i) Purchase on line at help-shelterbelts.comand click on ‘Store’
2. ii) Download an application form which can be manually filled out and faxed, emailed or mailed to HELP with a cheque payment or credit card information for payment.

iii) Make a telephone order by calling HELP at 306-842-2433 or to 306-897-5411

Varieties of Trees

In this first year of utilizing 100% HELP produced trees, HELP focused on 600,000 tree production of the fastest growing hybrid poplar and willow varieties only. These included

Hybrid Poplars:  Walker, Okanese and Assiniboine

Willow Varieties: Golden, Silver leaf and Pussy Willow

Simple Shelterbelt Design 

These varieties, properly planned can create the quickest possible shelterbelt. A simple effective four row shelterbelt for a 500 meter long shelterbelt might be:

Outside Row: Mixed Willow (100 Golden and 100 Silver leaf) planted at 2.5 meter spacing

2nd Row: 200 Walker Poplar with trees planted at 2.5 meter (8 foot) spacing

Inside Row: 200 Okanese of Assiniboine Poplar planted at 2.5 meter spacing

Total Trees Required for Above 500 meter Shelterbelt Program: 800 Tree Seedlings

Total Cost for Tree Seedlings for this 500 meter x Four Row Program:

800 regular size seedlings @ $1.50 =          $1,200

6% discount for November Purchase:          ($    76)

Sub-Total:             $ 1,128

Packaging and Shipping: 800 Seedlings @$0.14 = $    112

New Sub-Total:    $1,240

GST:       $    62

Total for Manitoba and Alberta Customers:  $1,302

PST for Sask Residents Only:                $    62

           Total for Sask Residents:                $1,364 (for 800 trees on four rows of 500 meters each)  

For the above four row shelterbelt program at four meter spacing between rows, the landowner would have fine till to six inch depth like a garden, 50 foot width x 500 meters long around the property.

New tree Varieties in the works at HELP:

The following is the roll out for additional trees in the near future:

Fall 2016: Lilac, Manitoba Maple

Fall 2017: Tristis Poplar, North West Poplar, American Elm, Laurel Willow

Lowest Maintenance Tree Planting Suggestion

The lowest maintenance tree planting involves planting the trees, then installing plastic mulch film by machine that HELP can loan out (HELP also sells the plastic mulch film) and lastly broadcast and harrow 30 lb per acre or more of common creeping red fescue.  Costs for the 50 lb of fescue for this is about $109. Plastic mulch for this 2,000 meter (500 meter x four rows) planting woudl be 4.33 rolls of mulch …meaning 5 rolls of mulch at $192.50 per roll including taxes = $962.50.  Alberta and Manitoba customers can purchase mulch from vendors in their provinces to save on freight.

Rodney Sidloski, CEO

HELP International

Tel: 306-842-2433

Cell:306-861-0814

www.help-international.com

If you are – call the RM office at 723-4726.

The University of Saskatchewan is looking for information on wild boar in the Province.  If you have any information – please contact them.

Feral Boar Info Sheet

I figured we could use a Monday morning pick-me-up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sKdDyyanGk

While the Administrator is away for training.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

One year ago Ninety-five per cent of the crop had been combined. Average yields were being reported, although some areas were reporting higher-than-average yields.

Follow the 2015 Crop Report on Twitter @SKAgriculture

Saskatchewan Harvest October 19, 2015 %&combined Winter wheat 100 Fall rye 100 Spring wheat 98 Durum 97 Oat* 97 Barley 97 Canaryseed 82 Flax 87 Canola 97 Mustard 98 Soybeans 98 Lentils 100 Peas 100 Chickpeas 97 *includes three per cent ‘other’

Harvest Progress in SK Per cent Combined All Crops Oct 19/15 97 5 year avg. (2010-2014) 98 Oct 20/14 95 Oct 21/13 99 Oct 15/12 99 Oct 17/11 99 Oct 18/10 97 10 year avg. (2005-2014) 95

This is the second-last Crop Report of the season. The final Crop Report will be issued on October 29.

Harvest is virtually complete in the province as 97 per cent of the crop is now in the bin, up from 91 per cent last week, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly Crop Report. The five-year (2010-2014) average for this time of year is 98 per cent combined.

Mild and relatively dry weather allowed most producers to complete harvest, although other producers will need another week or more to finish. The southeast region is the furthest advanced, having 99 per cent of the crop combined. The southwestern, east-central and northeastern regions have 98 per cent of the crop combined, the northwest has 97 per cent and the west-central region has 93 per cent. There are still some flax, canary seed and oat crops left to be combined.

Very little rainfall was received this past week, although some areas around Prince Albert reported receiving 10 mm. Across the province, topsoil moisture conditions on cropland are rated as six per cent surplus, 88 per cent adequate and six per cent short. Hay land and pasture topsoil moisture conditions are rated as two per cent surplus, 85 per cent adequate, 12 per cent short and one per cent very short.

Farmers are busy finishing harvest and fall work.

East-Central Saskatchewan (Crop District 5 – Melville, Yorkton, Cupar, Kamsack, Foam Lake, Preeceville and Kelvington areas; Crop District 6A – Lumsden, Craik, Watrous and Clavet areas)

The east-central region now has 97 per cent of the crop combined, equaling the five-year (2010-2014) average for this time of year. Significant harvest progress was made thanks to warm and dry weather; however, some crops such as flax remain green and are slow to dry down.

Very little rainfall was reported in the region, although the Allan area received 6 mm. At 443 mm, the Bradwell area holds the regional record for the greatest amount of rainfall since April 1. Cropland topsoil moisture conditions are rated as 13 per cent surplus, 86 per cent adequate and one per cent short. Hay land and pasture topsoil moisture conditions are rated as three per cent surplus, 96 per cent adequate and one per cent short.

Farmers are busy completing harvest, moving cattle, hauling bales and fixing fences.

SARM Pleased with Farmland Consultation Results

The Ministry of Agriculture has released the results of the farmland ownership consultation that began in May of this year and closed in August. The position of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is that farmland in Saskatchewan should be owned and farmed by people that want to live and work in Saskatchewan.

SARM has been closely following this issue and ensuring that its member’s views on the issue are heard by the Government of Saskatchewan. The Minister of Agriculture, the Honourable Lyle Stewart, was informed of SARM’s position at an in-person meeting with stakeholders. SARM President Ray Orb stated, “SARM believes that farmland in Saskatchewan should be owned by Saskatchewan farmers and not foreign interests or pension plans.” As seen in the survey results, this is the dominant view of the public in Saskatchewan. Many producer groups will be pleased with these results including SARM.

SARM President Ray Orb said, “these results demonstrate what the people of Saskatchewan believe should be done in regards to farmland ownership rules. We are looking forward to legislative and regulatory changes that will occur to satisfy these views.”

The positive results will ensure that Saskatchewan farmland continues to be farmed by Saskatchewan families. These families will reside in rural Saskatchewan and contribute to their local communities, strengthening the economy and social ties.

As the Government of Saskatchewan deliberates on next steps SARM will confidently wait as it knows the results will be favourable for farmland ownership rules.

For more information please contact:

Jay Meyer

Executive Director

(306) 761-3721

“SARM, the Voice of Rural Saskatchewan”