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Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday October 5, 2022

Oct 5, 2022 | 3:10 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – October is Agriculture Month in Saskatchewan.

Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan is encouraging consumers to learn more about the world-class, environmentally sustainable products produced in the province.

Executive Director Clinton Monchuk said the public can share their connection to food through the theme, “#MealsFromtheFarm.”

“We are very fortunate to produce such an abundance of food in this province,” Monchuk said. “For Agriculture Month, we will be using the hashtag #MealsFromtheFarm to promote sharing the great food we grow here with everyone.”

Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan, in collaboration with industry partners, will share food stories, hold an online photo contest, and use social media to encourage the public to learn about modern agriculture and to get involved by supporting meals in their local communities.

The future of an experimental African Swine Fever vaccine will become clearer in the next few weeks

Testing of a gene-deleted African Swine Fever vaccine was suspended after roughly 100 out of 600 pigs that had been vaccinated on farms in Central Vietnam died and 400 others experienced a vaccine reaction.

Swine Health Information Center Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg said there will be complete investigations of the incident and that will lead to the next steps for the vaccine.

“I do know that there are other prototype vaccines that are being worked on,” Sundberg said. “USDA Agriculture Research Service on Plum Island has another vaccine that’s a gene deleted vaccine that they are also working on for testing and commercialization as well as other laboratories around the world.”

Sundberg said while this incident is a setback in finding a vaccine, the work continues.

Saskatchewan continues to lead the country in export growth.

Statistics Canada reported merchandise exports increased by 54.7 per cent in August 2022 compared to the same time last year.

Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison said Saskatchewan is a critical, indispensable supplier of food, fuel, fertilizer, and technology.

“These latest merchandise export numbers show that exports remain a crucial part of Saskatchewan’s current and future economic strength,” Harrison said.

In the first eight months of the year, Saskatchewan’s merchandise exports increased by 44.3 per cent, the second highest increase among the provinces. The value of exports in August was $4.51 billion.

Metal ores, non-metallic minerals, and energy products led the year-over-year export growth, with increases of 174.1 per cent and 55.3 per cent respectively.

Saskatchewan also led the country in wholesale trade growth, which jumped 72 per cent in July 2022.

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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