Where does the time go? Another year, another farming season of hope, dreams, successes and failures. I can't remember a year with so much variation in growing conditions. The SSCA's message promoting Low Disturbance Seeding (LDS) to protect our soil resource and maximize yields was driven home in some areas of Sask. where drought was a factor. This message, however, found many deaf ears where excessive moisture stalled seeding operations until well into the growing season. Only in Sask. could you see floods and drought in the same day.
The SSCA accomplished much in the past year. We will soon complete our second year of our three year "Saskatchewan Soil Enhancement Project". With our help, farmers continued to expand the LDS acreage in the province. Currently there are approximately 6 million acres of grain produced using this system. Although this still represents only about ten percent of the cropped acres in Sask., we lead the country in protecting our soil resource.
This result could not have been achieved without the hard work of our staff and dedicated board members. Their accomplishments include: over fifty small field tours attended by over 2100 producers, 166 Direct Seeding courses attended by over 3300 participants, over 300 farm calls, 26 news appearances and many articles in weekly newspapers, major farm publications, provincial newsletters and of course our own newsletter, "The Prairie Steward". We also conducted our annual direct seeding field day attended by over 800 interested producers and our fifth annual direct seeding conference which also attracted over 800 participants. These events have become premier direct seeding events in Western Canada. It is indeed a pleasure to work with these people to organize and conduct these events and I look forward to each planning session or board meeting.
Currently we have a couple of new programs underway. In the fall of 1995 we introduced a 1-800 Direct Seeding line (1-800-213-4287) with help from one of our industry partners, Monsanto Canada Inc. This line allows farmers to talk with our technical staff to obtain the latest information on direct seeding. A program called Farmer Helping Farmer (FHF) allows us to maintain a data base of direct seeding and soil conservation information. Farmers wishing to contact other farmers with experience in cropping practices, rotations or a particular piece of machinery need only call the 1-800 line with their question.
This winter our staff are conducting "Kitchen Table" meetings at selected farms where small groups will discuss direct seeding and other related topics. Our goal is to have these study groups come together in the future to tour fields or discuss other topics of interest.
Finally, our Direct Seeding Field day has grown in size. The machinery industry has approached us to organize and conduct two field days for 96, one in the North and one South. Our North day will be on June 11th near Wilke and our South day will be on June 18th just east of Regina to coincide with the Western Canada Farm Progress Show.
We are optimistic about the future but not blind to the challenges forthcoming. There will be a need for the SSCA to inform producers about farm practices that protect our key resources; soil, air, water and wildlife. The adoption of these practices must , however, allow these same producers to make a reasonable living for themselves and their families. We will work closely with our industry partners, provincial and federal ag departments and other farmer driven organizations to generate and deliver the necessary conservation messages.
The next growing season will soon be upon us and will likely move by as quickly as the one just past. By the time we meet again we will be ushering out the current program and introducing a new one with a new focus. Work with us to design a program that fits your needs and addresses the concerns we all should have; the conservation of our vital natural resources.
I'll leave you with the imortal words of the famous present day philosopher, Red Green: "Keep your stick on the ice"