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Agriculture Roundup for Monday October 19, 2020

Oct 19, 2020 | 10:20 AM

Saskatchewan residents will have an opportunity to hear three political parties discuss rural issues ahead of next week’s election.

Agricultural Producers’ Association of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Farm Stewardship Association, and Access Communications have partnered on the special election forum.

The 2020 Saskatchewan Provincial Election Forum will be a 90-minute conversation focusing on a variety of topics of concern to rural producers, including improving rural internet and cellphone service, supporting the next generation of farmers, improving business risk management programs and responsible agricultural water management.

The forum featuring candidates from the Saskatchewan Party, New Democrats and Liberals will available starting today on AccessNow TV community channels and online at realagriculture.com.

The complete broadcast schedule can be found here.

The forum is also sponsored by Saskatchewan Egg Producers, Saskatchewan Pork Development Board, Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and Saskatchewan Irrigation Projects Association.

A University of British Columbia student design team is developing a fully autonomous agricultural robot.

The UBC AgroBot would exterminate weeds and fertilize crops as well as record data from a farmer’s operation.

The team has grown from four to over 40 students with backgrounds in various engineering disciplines and many with no prior exposure to agriculture.

The UBC team was the only Canadian university group planning to attend the AgGrowBot Challenge hosted by Indiana’s Purdue University last May, however the COVID-19 pandemic prevented them from attending.

The group members were granted official engineering design team status at UBC and have received financial support from various organizations, including Farm Credit Canada (FCC).

Alberta wheat farmers can now vote for district representatives.

Elections are being held in region two in south-central Alberta including Calgary and surrounding counties and east and region four in northeastern Alberta, including Edmonton and surrounding counties, Lloydminster and north of Fort McMurray.

For producers who aren’t able to attend the regional meeting, they can register for electronic voting until Nov. 6.

More information on the regional meetings can be found at albertawheat.com.

alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF