As Yorkton grows, and that growth has been strong and steady the last few years, it is easy to begin to look at our community as more urban than in the past.
More and more popular business chains have established here.
We see higher end condo projects and retirement villas being built.
It leaves the impression we are becoming more city than we have been in the past.
But in the end, our population, and our business base, is still very much tied to agriculture.
Mayor Bob Maloney touched on that fact again last week while attending an event at the Louis Dreyfus Commodities canola crushing facility in the city.
The event was to celebrate LDC having shipped its 100th 100-car shipment of canola meal recently. It was an industry-leading accomplishment, and testament to the scale of the local facility, the support achieved from regional producers, and the forging of new markets for the meal product.
In his brief comments to those gathered, Maloney noted that Yorkton relies heavily on being a service centre for the region's farmers.
One only needs to look around Yorkton to appreciate that fact.
Morris Industries and Leon Manufacturing have long been serving the farm market by supplying short-line farm equipment.
The influence of such business locally was recognized recently when the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce bestowed a life membership on Ray Malinowski, long-associated with Leon Manufacturing.
Interesting, George Morris founder of Morris Industries had been so honoured as well back in 1974.
Cargill, Parrish and Heimbecker, and Viterra all operate high volume grain handling facilities in the city, while Heartland Livestock does the same in terms of marketing livestock.
Then there is the LDC canola crushing facility in the city, and its nearby competitor Richardson International Ltd. The two facilities have turned Yorkton into a major destination for canola producers from as far away as Winnipeg, MB. to deliver here.
Grain Millers operates a large oat processing plant here, and local entrepreneurs are crushing flax out of the TA Foods facility.
Then there are the service suppliers to the farm sector. Both Maple Farm Equipment and Yorkton Coop were two of Saskatchewan Business Magazine's most recent Top 100 listing for provincial businesses.
When one looks at the size of Yorkton's biggest farm-sector businesses, it is easy to appreciate the number of people they jointly employ, and of course the economic impact the paycheques those employees receive have in our city.
But it is bigger than local payrolls in terms of the impact.
When a farmer delivers a load of canola to the city, or comes to buy parts for a tractor, it means dollars spent in the city for other things as well, whether it's gas, or food, or a new dress for the better half at home.
Yorkton is a vibrant city to be sure, but it is important to remember much of that vibrancy is because the community serves the rural region as it does.
