A couple from Balcarres is hoping to make a big impression at Agribition this year as they try to sell an automated feeding system of their own design.

Nearly 20 years ago, Dennis McMorris was calving at his farm near Balcarres, and the labour of feeding his cattle was getting to be too much. Calving already had him working well into the middle of the night, and hauling hundreds of buckets of feed out to the rest of his herd was proving to be much too time-consuming. That gave him an idea. What if there was a machine that did the feeding for him?
 

It’s been 43 years since the Canadian Western Agribition had its humble beginnings in Regina, and on Monday, it begins again for another year.

There will be a couple new events and exhibitions at this year’s Agribition, according to CEO Marty Seymour. It includes two equine events, the first being a horse training show.

“A couple horse trainers will take an animal that’s never been trained before and teach that animal a bunch of skills so they can ride (it),” said Seymour. That event will happen over the noon hour each day.

Traffic in Regina will likely include more than a few cattle trailers over the weekend as the agriculture industry descends on the Queen City for the 2013 Canadian Western Agribition.

Set-up was already well underway Friday as crews worked to set up booths, chutes and rodeo for opening day Monday. And CEO Marty Seymour said things are in full swing.

“We’ve got cattle arriving already so a lot of the cattle pens, the bedding and feed water has already been put into play,” he said.

The landscape of rural Saskatchewan is changing; could it be the end of a long-time way of life?

The number of farms in the province has been cut almost in half since 1991. As the number of individual farms shrinks significantly corporate farms are growing by leaps and bounds. That shift is fundamentally changing the landscape of farming and rural life in our province. It begs the question: is this the end of the family farm? Is the homestead becoming Homestead, Inc.?

The landscape of rural Saskatchewan is changing; could it be the end of a long-time way of life?

The number of farms in the province has been cut almost in half since 1991. As the number of individual farms shrinks significantly corporate farms are growing by leaps and bounds. That shift is fundamentally changing the landscape of farming and rural life in our province. It begs the question: is this the end of the family farm? Is the homestead becoming Homestead, Inc.?

A crop that acts similar to natural grasslands could help the northern pintail duck population in the province according to a study by a University of Saskatchewan biology student.

David Johns’ research around Shaunavon and Radville compared winter wheat to natural grasslands to see how well pintail ducklings survive.

"The study was radio-tracking pintail ducks in southern Saskatchewan and following them in two different landscapes," he said.

"We searched pretty much the equivalent of half of Saskatoon in area."

The landscape of rural Saskatchewan is changing; could it be the end of a long-time way of life?

The number of farms in the province has been cut almost in half since 1991. As the number of individual farms shrinks significantly corporate farms are growing by leaps and bounds. That shift is fundamentally changing the landscape of farming and rural life in our province. It begs the question: is this the end of the family farm? Is the homestead becoming Homestead, Inc.?

The landscape of rural Saskatchewan is changing; could it be the end of a long-time way of life?

The number of farms in the province has been cut almost in half since 1991. As the number of individual farms shrinks significantly corporate farms are growing by leaps and bounds. That shift is fundamentally changing the landscape of farming and rural life in our province. It begs the question: is this the end of the family farm? Is the homestead becoming Homestead, Inc.?

The landscape of rural Saskatchewan is changing; could it be the end of a long-time way of life?

The number of farms in the province has been cut almost in half since 1991. As the number of individual farms shrinks significantly corporate farms are growing by leaps and bounds. That shift is fundamentally changing the landscape of farming and rural life in our province. It begs the question: is this the end of the family farm? Is the homestead becoming Homestead, Inc.?

A diesel shortage in Western Canada has the Co-Op refinery on rations.

Trucks were seen lining up the refinery in the last few weeks waiting to get their rations from the 78-year-old refiner.

“This is an integrated industry in Western Canada, and what happens in one part of the sector can drive sales in other parts of the sector,” refinery spokesman, Daryl Oshanek, said.