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By Cam Lee

Ag roundup

Ag roundup for Wednesday, Jan. 28

Jan 28, 2026 | 9:51 AM

The Ministry of Agriculture is looking to recruit crop reporters.

They have been at farm shows like the Western Canadian Crop Production Show to look for people interested in contributing to the weekly crop report.

Crops Extension Specialist Tyce Masich says they’ve had several people interested in becoming a crop reporter, and they hope to see more.

He says anyone interested can sign up online and answer a few short questions.

You don’t need to be a farmer to be a crop reporter.

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Masich says agrologists, grain buyers, or anyone with a general sense of crop production in the region would be welcomed.

A survey is sent out each Monday morning, and reporters have a couple of days to answer a few questions about rainfall, crop conditions, crop yields, and damage.

Masich says the only mandatory question is the rainfall information, and you can leave other questions blank if you don’t know the answers to them.

According to Masich, the more reporters they have, the more accurate the reports will be.

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Another agricultural group is up in arms about the cuts to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Cuts include research farms in Scott and Indian Head.

NFU Vice President of Policy Phil Mount says there needs to be more investment, not less, in public research institutions and personnel.

While the cuts are expected to remove over $150 million from AAFC’s annual budget, but the NFU says cutting the capacity to address known and emerging agriculture problems will be far more costly.

They say agricultural economist Dr. Richard Gray has shown that there is a $35 return to farmers and the public for every dollar invested in public plant breeding.

The NFU is calling for not only a reversal of these cuts, but re-investment in public agricultural research.

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Registration is still open for the 2026 Saskatchewan Pulse Growers winter pulse meetings.

Three meetings will take place across the province in February.

Topics will include organizational updates, new pulse varieties, on-farm agronomic outlooks, the latest research in pest management, and transportation and pulse market outlooks.

All meetings are in-person, with a virtual attendance option for Swift Current.

Meetings will be held in Southey Tuesday, Feb. 3, Swift Curren on Wednesday, Feb. 4, and at the Saskatoon Inn Tuesday, Feb. 10.

CCA credits are available.