YORKTON - Agriculture Week is once again being marked in Yorkton – this year from Oct. 28 through Nov. 2.
While you might wonder about the importance of agriculture in Saskatchewan given its limited play in the election campaign over the last month – health, car, education, the minimum wage, public safety and other issues getting far more political play than the ag sector, it remains critical in both our community and in our province.
A ceremonial ’branding’ to mark the week occurred Monday in the Ag Pavilion on the Exhibition Grounds with special guest Merve Kuryluk applying the brand. Assisting with the branding were Yorkton Mayor Mitch Hippsley; Exhibition President Lyle Walsh; and Chamber President Sunil Shah.
They noted that marking agriculture week is important given the significance of the sector locally.
“Agriculture is very, very important in the community and Saskatchewan,” said Shah.
Hippsley said it was land that brought immigrants here initially and agriculture “is still going and growing.”
Locally, that growth is easy to see.
Whether one looks to the almost continuous expansion process that has occurred at Grain Millers over the years, growth mirrored in two canola crushing plants, or the recently announced pea processing facility by LDM, agriculture has been a main driver of our local economy.
And that impact goes beyond the local processors too.
The potash mines near Esterhazy and Rocanville are important to the region's and to the city’s economy and potash is mined because it is a fertilizer source for agriculture.
And, let us not forget the impact of every farmer in the region.
A new combine rolling off an implement dealer lot can have a price tag of more than $1 million when you add in straight cut headers and other options. That is a massive investment which has a ripple effect through a community. Such sales keep business doors open employing mechanics and parts people and sales staff, who live locally supporting stores here.
There is an inter-connectedness to an economy, which locally is often built on an agricultural foundation.
As Hippsley noted farming is very much this community’s heritage – reflected in both the local Western Development Museum and in the plans for the new brick mill interpretive centre now being built.
Without farming it is questionable whether Yorkton would exist – and if it did it would almost certainly not be the vibrant community it is today.
And, again as Hippsley noted, and the aforementioned processing plant expansions attest, greater growth is yet to come – thanks to the impact of agriculture.
