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By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Friday October 14, 2022

Oct 14, 2022 | 9:55 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – Fertilizer giant Nutrien is working towards expansion of its potash production in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatoon-based company set a goal of 18 million metric tonnes annually by 2025 which is up from the current capacity of 15 million tonnes.

Nutrien said the focus is on the Vanscoy, Allan, and Lanigan mines for the additional production.

The company has six potash mines in Saskatchewan and employs 4,000 people in the province.

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Some farmers are celebrating fall’s dry spell after a wet spring this year.

B-C Agriculture Council president Stan Vander Wal said as long as farmers got enough to cover their crops before conditions started drying up, the crops should retain enough moisture.

Abbotsford farmer Amir Mann said the drought is far preferable to last year’s historic floods because you can always apply more water but it’s hard to get rid of too much.

However, he said those without sophisticated irrigation systems may have a harder time.

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A Saskatchewan group is getting support for the work it is doing on environmental stewardship of marginal lands.

Wascana & Upper Qu’Appelle Watershed Association Taking Responsibility Inc. (WUQWATR) will get $50,000 from Nutrien.

David Sloan is the WUQWATR board chair and a producer southeast of Regina in the Wascana Watershed.

He said the group’s activities align with Nutrien’s environmental stewardship goals of promoting ecosystem health and helping protect the quality of air, water, and soil.

“Since inception, WUQWATR has delivered more than 800 projects covering 3,848 acres,” Sloan said. “Nutrien’s support will help us find more producers to participate in the ALUS program conserving freshwater on marginal lands by paying producers for stewardship actions.”

Sloan said if a producer seeds tame forage, creates pollinator habitat, puts up exclusion fencing or restores a wetland, WUQWATR can help fund these types of projects.

“To be an ALUS project recipient, producers could restore a wetland, reforest an area, plant a windbreak or a riparian buffer, manage for sustainable drainage, or any other stewardship effort on marginal lands and receive a per-acre payment for these environmental benefits. WUQWATR also provides annual payment to maintain them for five or more years,” Sloan said.

WUQWATR is a non-profit organization that works to protect source water in the Wascana and Upper Qu’Appelle watersheds. WUQWATR’s boundaries extend from Humboldt to Tyvan and from Central Butte to east of Regina.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW