(file photo/farmnewsNOW.com)

By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Tuesday December 10, 2019

Dec 10, 2019 | 9:19 AM

The Conservative Party’s shadow minister of agriculture said what wasn’t in last week’s Throne Speech is more telling than what was included.

John Barlow said the word ‘agriculture’ did not appear once, along with oil, gas and pipelines.

Barlow said the agriculture sector is facing a crisis but the speech was about throwing more money around and getting further into debt.

The Conservatives and the NDP said they won’t be supporting the speech when it comes up this week in Parliament while the Bloc Quebecois have indicated they will, which would give it enough votes to pass and avoid a non-confidence vote in the new minority Liberal government.

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The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat) has announced its election results.

The three candidates who will be serving on the board include Lesley Kelly who farms near Watrous. Kelly co-founded the Do More Agriculture Foundation and is the farmer behind the High Heels and Canola Fields blog. Glen Tait farms near Meota and has served on R.M. council and local school board. Jocelyn Velestuk is an agronomy consultant who farms near Broadview.

They will be joining Bill Gehl of Regina, Brett Halstead of Nokomis, Jake Leguee of Weyburn and Ken Rosaasen of Preeceville.

The directors’ terms will start following the Sask Wheat annual meeting which will be held on Jan. 13.

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Alberta issued its final crop report of the year and it sounds very familiar.

The province said the growing season was complicated by lack of rainfall in southern and eastern areas and the complete opposite for much of the rest of Alberta.

Fall saw cold temperatures, untimely snow and excess moisture, meaning harvest operations started, then halted numerous times. Many areas were taking off tough and damp grain just to get it off the field.

Provincially there is an estimated 10 per cent of all crops that will be out until spring, unless a weather window opens up at some point.

The province says this volume matches the last crop report from 2016.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF