The SSCA has gone through many changes over the past few months. As of April 1, SSCA's five remaining regional staff positions were reduced to 2/3 time, while the Assistant Manager and West Central Regional Conservationist positions are being left vacant. As Doug McKell mentioned in previous newsletter articles, we were not successful with any of the funding applications we made to either federal programs (CARDS) or the provincial Agriculture Development Fund. While the Saskatchewan government is providing SSCA with some operating funds for the coming year, it was too little, too late for SSCA to maintain its existing field programs. The $200,000 announced by the Hon. Dwain Lingenfelter at the Direct Seeding Conference only amounts to about one third of SSCA's annual budget for the past few years. However, this funding does allow SSCA to maintain some core activities with a reduced level of staffing.
SSCA's main focus areas in the funding arrangement with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food are: the Direct Seeding Conference, the Prairie Steward Newsletter, SSCA's web site and field demonstrations. In addition to these activities, the SSCA Board continues to work on the soil carbon issue and other policy areas to move soil conservation forward in Saskatchewan. A summary of the changes taking place with SSCA's projects follows.
Planning for the 2001 Direct Seeding Conference in Saskatoon, February 14 - 15, is well underway. This year's conference features keynote speaker, David Irvine and sessions on weed management, farm management, emerging issues in direct seeding and farming for the future. There are also concurrent sessions for both new and experienced direct seeders.
The SSCA has had an Internet presence on Ag Canada's PARIDSS server since 1994. It has evolved from a text-based "Gopher" format to "Web" format over these years. The SSCA will be giving our existing site (ssca.usask.ca) a major overhaul over the next few months. In addition to information from our newsletters and conference proceedings, members will be able to find technical information on different aspects of direct seeding, case studies of successful direct seeders, links to other related sites and a moderated discussion area. We want SSCA's site to be the site of choice for direct seeding and soil conservation information for Saskatchewan farmers.
As you will have noticed, the Prairie Steward has undergone a facelift, moving from a newspaper format to a magazine format. While the Prairie Steward may look different, it will continue to be the premier publication on soil conservation and direct seeding in Canada.
This spring SSCA staff established 20 demonstration sites throughout Saskatchewan. These sites located at the various research stations, spoke sites and demonstration farms in Saskatchewan, evaluate a variety of direct seeding management practices. These plots will be included as part of the field tours being held at these research and demonstration sites.
The Project SOILS soil conservation education program was coordinated by Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management (SERM) for the past six years. Due to the elimination of SERM's education programs, we needed to find a new partner to coordinate this important project. Last winter, Agriculture In The Classroom agreed to coordinate and promote Project SOILS to Saskatchewan's teachers.
While SSCA's field programs have been reduced, these efforts ensure that the latest management information on direct seeding is still available to producers. Good luck with the 2000 crop.