T
he Saskatchewan Party brought down its 2013 budget last week, and it was one where agriculture saw a major positive, as well as being left to wonder about what was missing.
To start, the positive came in continued research funding.
The Saskatchewan Party has shown continued interest in investing general taxpayer dollars in public research for the farm sector, and that is a good plan.
The Agriculture Development Fund's (ADF) budget of $27.7 million is an increase of 36 per cent over last year. The dollars are a significant investment from a province of about one million people, and shows the government is aware that a strong agriculture sector is crucial for the overall economic health of the province.
Not surprisingly Garth Patterson, Executive Director with the Western Grains Research Foundation saw the increase as a positive.
"Producers will benefit from the Saskatchewan Government's increased commitment to research," he said in a press release.
While the WGRF is directly involved in research, Patterson is right producers should benefit from increased dollars invested in the field.
So too should the overall economy since farmers spend money when they are doing well in communities across the province.
But there was also a hope the budget would more clearly address how the province plans to deal with community pasture land. Many see such lands as there for all producers, and that if the province wants to divest itself of the land there needs to be a plan which assures it remains as pasture land for all.
There are those who also note the lands are important in terms of wildlife habitat since it is not disturbed by cultivation, and that the land resource needs to be protected for that reason as well.
No plan was in the budget as New Democrat Finance Critic Tim Witherspoon pointed out in a post budget conference call with media last week. He said the government failed "to recognize the value of these pastures to producers" in the budget.
Witherspoon also noted there was no plan in the budget to address the future of the former PFRA tree nursery in the province, a facility which dates back to before Saskatchewan was a province.
Certainly against the major budget costs of health care, education, debt servicing, agriculture is a minor line in terms of finances. Yet its impact as a sector remains a major one in Saskatchewan.
The recognition of that through research investment is positive, the lack of leadership in other areas is troubling, leaving this very much a 50/50 budget for agriculture.
