In the article I wrote this spring, I ended by wishing that you all get sufficient rain. So much for my ability to influence those rain clouds. As we all know, it has been a very difficult year: everything from total drought to frost to rain at the wrong time to crops that would not dry down. Fortunately, there were some Saskatchewan producers who had excellent crops and now with good prices, they will have one of their best years ever. We always need to find some positives in our lives.
At the beginning of November, 2002, SSCA staff and board held a planning session at Bruno, Saskatchewan. We spent the day examining the role of SSCA and activities we use to deliver our message of soil conservation. Our main activities are the direct seeding conference, Prairie Steward, web site and meetings/tours. There was good discussion and this led to a consensus regarding our priorities. The Direct Seeding Conference was seen as the most important activity of the SSCA. This is evident by the support we get from the producers at each conference. The Prairie Steward was also seen as an important extension activity but there was some thought that, as we spend more time developing our web site and as producers get more familiar with it, there may be something of a transition. This transition may be one of moving away from the hard copy to where producers would access the Prairie Steward along with other information on the web site. Staff will be striving to make the web site more accessible for our members and to add to it so that it comes up more often through search engines.
Carbon was also confirmed as an important issue for SSCA to pursue. However, having reaffirmed our commitment to extension activities which focus on soil conservation, it was noted that there might be a conflict of time and resources as the carbon activities become more involved and demanding. We, therefore, are exploring ways of remaining a leader in the carbon issue without taking away from our core activity of extension work on soil conservation.
In addition to the activities mentioned above, SSCA will be involved, through its membership in the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC), in the greenhouse gas mitigation program and the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) environmental chapter. These are both initiatives of the federal government and will eventually have an effect on agriculture in Saskatchewan. The greenhouse gas mitigation program is an extension program and SSCA will deliver this program in Saskatchewan. SCCC is holding a meeting in Edmonton Dec 10-12 in order that activities start in 2003. The APF is in the formative stage and Saskatchewan has not signed on to this program at this time. There are five areas or chapters as they are called--1. Food safety and food quality 2. Science and innovation 3. Business risk management 4. Renewal (international trade & development) 5. Environment. If Saskatchewan signs this agreement it will be the cornerstone of policy and program delivery.
All this points to a challenging winter for the Board, staff, and members of SSCA. I hope you find the time to add your input on policy and I also hope we all get that nice blanket of snow to add to next years moisture reserve.