It was a bountiful harvest in Saskatchewan this year, with 38.4 million tonnes. The record-breaking crop surpassed expectations, and Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart says that it exceeds the ambitious targets for 2020 laid out in the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth.
"It takes a bigger investment and more risk on the part of producers to grow a super crop like this than it does to just grow an average crop. They invested big, and I am delighted for them that they got it," Stewart says.
The crop is up 40 per cent over just last year, and 48 per cent over the ten year average. A big portion of this year's crop is canola, with the largest canola harvest on record at 8.9 million tonnes, a 37.5 per cent increase over 2012.
"Canola is a big crop for a lot of the province now, and will continue to be in the future."
Stewart says that all of the credit goes to producers, but that he also sees this becoming a trend into the future, as producers invest in new technology and crop varieties as they become available. He says that this growing season began looking troublesome, and it was producers taking risks and not just going for the minimal investment that caused a successful growing season.
The big crop does highlight some issues which have to be addressed in the province, namely in terms of rail service and shipping. Stewart says that while he is optimistic that the crop will be able to reach port in a timely fashion, it's clear that there needs to be investment in the nation's shipping industry in order to handle successful growing years like this.
"Before long, crops of this magnitude will be the norm before long, and they need to gear up to handle more product. Our producers can do this, while the weather varies and there will be peaks and valleys, before too long this will become the norm," Stewart says.
He says that there is continual improvement in the shipping industry, especially with expansions of ports and smoother rail transport. Stewart notes that car unloads are up, but is not where it needs to be.
Stewart is confident with new technology crops of this magnitude will soon become the norm in the province, and he says this year is a reminder that the shipping industry now needs to catch up.
