Back in the fall of 1986, Don Flaten, Soils Specialist with Sask. Agriculture & Food at the time, talked to Jim Halford one day and mentioned that it was time Saskatchewan had a soil conservation group similar to ACTS and ManDak. Jim agreed. And so the wheels for the organization of a soil conservation group in Saskatchewan were set into motion.
Don submitted a proposal to the Agriculture Development Fund for a study to gauge producer interest in a provincial soil conservation group. Approval and funding for the project enabled Jim Halford to be hired as coordinator and meeting dates set.
"One of the first meetings I attended was with Don Acton, Glen Shaw and Larry Gramiak," said Jim. "We also invited representatives from interested groups to discuss the formation of a provincial soil conservation group".
Following that meeting, Jim set out on a cross-province tour to discuss the idea with producers. "I visited seven places in a week", said Jim. His tour took him to Weyburn, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, North Battleford, Melfort, Yorkton and Rosetown. Prior to each meeting, Jim had send about 200 invitations to people identified by PFRA and the Ag. Reps. who might be interested in soil conservation.
Jim said that at each meeting he tried to play the devil's advocate. "I would ask such things as why do we need yet another group in Saskatchewan? and if we do form another organization, what kind of membership do we want?" At the finish of each meeting, each participant was asked to complete a survey about the need for soil conservation in the province.
From each of the 7 meetings, 2 reps were selected to attend another meeting in Saskatoon along with reps from the University of Saskatchewan. It was then that it was decided to hold a meeting in conjunction with the ManDak Zero Till Association's Annual Conference in Regina.
At about this point, Jim began to pull away from the organization. "I wanted only to help get things going", explained Jim. "I was too busy trying to develop equipment to be involved any longer".
It was then that Glen Hass was approached to become involved. Jim said, "I knew there needed to be a general secretary to do things between the directors meetings. Glen was the man for the job. I give real credit to the early directors of the organization for all the work they did but Glen was the real anchor".
With Glen at the helm (or serving as anchor -- this nautical terminology is hard to follow when you're from the Prairie!) the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association was essentially formed by the spring of 1987. "By then we were a full fledged organization", said Glen. "We had a constitution, bylaws and we were incorporated".
As Executive Director of the new organization, Glen put together the first SSCA newsletter in April 1988. Over the course of the next couple of years, the final touches were being put on the Canada-Saskatchewan Agreements on Soil and Water Conservation. When the federal government indicated it would like to see a provincial group involved in the soil conservation program, Glen said, "things really began to gel for the SSCA".
With funding from the Agriculture Development Fund, the SSCA could begin to hire staff. This meant big changes for SSCA. "The original concept of SSCA was now like the ManDak model -- farmers sharing information by coming together once a year", said Glen. "The Soil Conservation Agreement provided funding that enabled the hiring of staff and a great many more extension activities".
The first staff member hired by the SSCA was John Kiss who became the Executive Manager in late 1989. John feels there were a number of factors that influenced the success of both the SSCA and the soil conservation effort. "The time was right!" he said. "At the time the SSCA received its contract from ADF, there were serious concerns in the communities about the environment. Grain prices were low. The price of Roundup dropped. Equipment manufacturers began focusing on new markets and new machines at that time. The producers were willing to change and try something different."
In the next few months, John and the Board's executive conducted countless interviews until Specialists and Regional Soil Conservationists were hired and in place by January, 1990. Pat Flaten who became one of the first employees of SSCA, had been interested in the organization almost from the beginning. "I attended the meeting held at the ManDak Conference in 1987, the first annual SSCA meeting in Saskatoon in 1988 and the second annual meeting in Swift Current in 1989," said Pat. Pat had a number of reasons for being interested in the SSCA in those early days. "Soil conservation was up and coming," she explained, "and an exciting bunch of forward thinking people were involved in the effort. And soil conservation related directly to what we were trying to do in Innovative Acres (looking at extending rotations, different crops, zero till and chem fallow) and later, with PFRA."
Pat's desire to work for the SSCA gave her the opportunity to extend the ideas from Innovative Acres to the field. "Working with SSCA provided the opportunity to take the ideas and practices from Innovative Acres to more people and apply those in the field on a larger scale." Pat also liked the philosophy of the Board. "Many of the people on the Board had lots of integrity and the desire to "do the right thing".
One who wanted to do the right thing was Brett Meinert, the first SSCA president. Brett remembers how he first became involved in the SSCA. "I was one of the lucky ones selected by my ADD Board to attend a meeting about soil conservation organized by Jim Halford in Swift Current", he said. "When I attended the meeting in Regina, I was excited to see the interest in soil conservation in Saskatchewan!" When it was decided at that meeting to form a provincial soil conservation group, Brett said the group had the potential to be a lobbying organization, educational organization and a support group all rolled into one.
Brett recalls the first few SSCA Board meetings were very "stimulating". Brett said, "While the meetings themselves were interesting, it was the evening sessions that were most valuable. In the evenings we (the Directors) talked about anything and everything. It was an excellent group to work with". Brett also paid tribute to Glen Hass. "Glen is a tremendous individual. He helped the Association's organizational pains and growth". It was during these growth pains that the opportunity for a non partisan group to lead the soil conservation effort in the Save Our Soils Program presented itself. "It took the Board a lot of discussion to decide how much we (the SSCA) wanted to be involved in this," Brett said. "But we decided to jump in with both feet and I was very proud of the folks we hired and it appears that trend has continued."
And so the SSCA came into being. It grew. It acquired staff. And it has been one busy organization!
Highlights of the organization's activities include annual conferences and tradeshows; field days (2 per year now!); working with the Save Our Soils program; Town Hall Meetings; Prairie Steward; Forage Handbooks; Direct Seeding Manual; SSCA videos; Project Soils; "Guide to Conservation Programs" handbook; Kitchen Table Meetings; Half Ton Tours; Conservation Learning Centre; Conservation Awards; involvement with the Sask. Soil Enhancement Research Project and Board-Staff football and slow pitch games which the Staff always let the Board win!!
How do Jim, Glen, John, Pat and Brett view the SSCA today and what does the future hold?
Brett is pleased with how the organization has continued to progress. He said, "While the faces have all changed since I was on the Board, the present Board members seem very committed to soil conservation. After being away for a number of years, I was finally able to attend the 1997 Annual Conference. In terms of intensity of soil conservation thoughts, that Conference was very similar to our earliest conferences."
Pat is currently the manager of the Conservation Learning Centre. She says there is still lots of work to be done in the area of soil conservation. "There is still too much land in this province not being treated with respect. Burned stubble, cleared trees and evidence of excessive tillage are far too common sights". Pat thinks that direct seeding will continue to grow. "As farms become larger, direct seeding will become more common due to the increased number of acres that need to be covered. And it will be interesting to see the importance precision farming will play in the management plans of farms in the future."
John has been pleased with how things have changed since the early days. He said, "Prior to 1988, there wasn't a lot of soil conservation activity going on. If you were lucky, you could maybe get a couple of dozen people out to a meeting to even discuss soil conservation! Now, hundreds of people can be attracted to a meeting on direct seeding. Whether or not they view that as "soil conservation", the fact is, direct seeding is soil conservation! That makes both economic and environmental sense."
Glen said that from his perspective, minimum and zero tillage would never have moved so fast without the SSCA. "Probably never in Western Canadian history has diffusion and adaptation of a technology, in this case direct seeding, been taken up so quickly". He's pleased that it was the concept of direct seeding that led to the development of the equipment and not the equipment leading the concept. Glen feels there are some challenges ahead. "We hear people saying soil erosion is under control now -- it's not an issue any more. But we have 2 million acres seeded to potatoes in Saskatchewan. In PEI and New Brunswick where they seed potatoes, they have horrendous soil erosion. What impact will changes to cropping practices have on our soil?"
Jim sees some real differences in the SSCA and the level of soil conservation knowledge among producers. "When the SSCA was first formed we discussed whether it should focus on just zero till or all aspects of soil conservation. We decided on a broad focus. Today, however, the SSCA addresses mostly just zero till although I realize that's mostly due to funding sources." With regards to the knowledge level of producers, Jim said "In 10 years, the need for soil conservation and knowledge of it has changed a lot. 10 years ago, we talked about the basics of zero tillage. Today, we're talking about improved changes. Back then, people didn't even believe you could grow a crop without tillage! The technology has changed, the information level has changed. Our activities have to be more advanced such as demonstrations on a large piece of land for a number of years.
When it was suggested to Jim that perhaps he is the founder of the SSCA, he is quick to respond. "The interest in soil conservation was there. It just needed someone to make it happen!"
Well, happen it did and today, the SSCA remains a strong and vibrant organization. As the soils of Saskatchewan are always at risk, the voice of the SSCA will continue to call attention to the need for a strong commitment to soil conservation by government and producers. Soil conservation....it's in OUR hands.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SSCA
* Incorporated in March 1987 with 200 members.
* The first Board of Directors included Ken Duke, Langbank; Hugh Schnell, Torquay; Joe Holenski, Vanguard; Dave Bueckert, Tugaske; Ken Allport, Kyle; Gary Schweitzer, Eston; Derryl Blackstock, Gallivan; Terry Switenky, Prince Albert; Roger Kaeding, Churchbridge; and Brett Meinert, Shaunavon who became the first president.
* Other Directors over the Years:
Gerald Girodat; Gerry Willerth; Fred Phillips; Jim Laing; Ken Sapsford; Marv Fenrich; Terry Pearse; Paul Carles; Dean Smith; David Thompson; Lee Moats; Lorne Crosson; Bernie Niedzwiedz; Clint Steinley; Ed Beauchesne; Dwayne Mitchell; Brett Filson; Greg Kane; Dick Richards; John Bennett; Garry Nolan; Adrian Johnston; Don Kelsey; George Beauchesne.
* First staff hired in 1989. Regional and Central staff hired in 1990.
* Conservation Learning Centre established in April 1993.
* 1289 SSCA members as of September 30, 1997.
* More than one dozen babies born to SSCA Staff over the years!
* Brett Meinert's carraganas, a gift from the SSCA Board, are still growing!