In 1995 many of us complained about the long and drawn out harvest, little did we suspect what was in store for 1996. Perhaps the lesson to be learned is that no matter how bad the situation appears to be don't complain because it could be worse. I hope that by the time you read this issue of the Prairie Steward you will have completed your harvest.
Despite the trying times of a late spring and a harvest that wouldn't end, the SSCA board members have been busy during the last few months working on your behalf. In particular our Past President Marvin Fenrich and our Executive Manager Doug McKell have put in many hours negotiating for funding from the Agri-food Innovation Fund. We are reasonably confident that Marv's and Doug's efforts have been successful. SSCA memberships provide only a small portion of the funding required to maintain staff and projects so looking to outside sources is necessary. The present funding under the Soil Enhancement Project ends March 31, 1997. New funding will allow SSCA to continue to give Saskatchewan farmers the most up-to-date information on techniques for soil conservation and sustainable farming up to the year 1999. Watch for special activities that will be taking place in your region. We are also looking beyond 1999 in an attempt to bring some long term financial stability to SSCA.
On another front, the SSCA, the Southern Prairie Agricultural Research Centre (SPARC) and the TransAlta Utilities Corporation (TAU) are combining forces to look in detail at the changes that take place in the soil as minimum tillage technologies replace conventional tillage methods. More than 100 farmers throughout the province are taking part in the project by allowing their soils to be monitored over a period of several years. SSCA's main contribution to the program is the identification of potential farmer cooperators and ensuring as much as possible that they remain with the project. SSCA other responsibilities include administering a questionnaire on present and past cropping practices to the cooperators, arranging for and ensuring that the cooperators carry out the appropriate tillage operations, and obtaining crop samples from selected fields. At the end of the project we should have a good indication of how much carbon build-up takes place upon conversion to minimum tillage.
We have had a change in our field staff. Effective November 1, Dave Shortt resigned as the SSCA soil conservationist for the northwest region. We will miss Dave's expertise. On behalf of the SSCA board of directors I wish to thank Dave for a job well done and wish him all the best in his new job. Dave's position will be taken over by Tim Nerbas. Tim farms in the area and has a strong background in soils having worked for the Saskatchewan Soil survey for several years. Welcome Tim. It would be remiss to not thank the other applicants for the position, their strong qualifications made the selection of a successful applicant very difficult, we wish each of you success in your future endeavors.
On the administrative side, I will be proposing a number of amendments to the SSCA bylaws at the October board meeting. If the SSCA board approves these changes you will receive notice of the proposed amendments in the form of resolutions. Please read the resolutions carefully and be prepared to discuss and vote on them at our annual conference in Saskatoon, February 12 and 13, 1997.
In the area of farmer apathy, I have a beef to make. The beef concerns an alternate crop plot tour that took place several kilometers north of Assiniboia last summer. The plots in question are operated by researchers from the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Station at Swift Current. Local information on the viability of alternate crops is available from these plots, but they are set up with a considerable amount of inconvenience and expense so many kilometers away from the research station. I am sure that research personnel were very disappointed when the only farmers that showed up for the morning tour were the cooperating farmer and I. The afternoon tour had a similar turnout. We often complain that information we receive is not relevant to our area, but if we do not show more support for the efforts made by the research people we do not have much basis for complaining.
Finally a comment on what happened to those peas I referred to in the last issue of the Prairie Steward. Despite an average of 46% hail damage in the early blossom stage and a precipitation shortage of 49 mm (1.9") during June, July and August (compared with our 20-year average) the peas yielded twenty-six bushels per acre. The results are encouraging enough to try them again next year.