Legislative Report
April 13, 2023

Supporting Saskatchewan Agriculture

With the recent warm spring temperatures agricultural producers will be in the field before long. Last year, Saskatchewan producers harvested a crop of nearly 35 million tonnes. The province posted its third consecutive year of record agricultural exports totaling $18.4 billion. To promote growth in the agriculture sector, our government invested $548.2 million in agriculture, an increase of 19 per cent in the 2023-24 Provincial Budget.

To ensure this growth continues into the future, our government is investing in the new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) with the federal government. Throughout the five-year agreement, over $89 million annually will be invested in strategic programming for farmers, ranchers and agri-businesses, which represents a 25 per cent increase over the previous agreement.

Sustainable CAP puts a continued focus on agricultural research and increased support for water development. The programs will drive outcomes across five priority areas: building sector capacity, growth and competitiveness; climate change and environment; resiliency and public trust; market development and trade; and science, research and innovation. These investments will continue to strengthen the competitiveness, innovation and resiliency of Saskatchewan’s agriculture sector for years to come.

Supported by this year's budget, the industry is well-positioned to continue to take on the challenges inherent to agriculture and build on its success. To help our agriculture producers manage risks, our budget includes $408 million for the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC). This year’s average Crop Insurance coverage will reach a record high of $446 per acre, due to increased commodity prices and yield coverage.

SCIC’s maximum Unseeded Acreage coverage levels have also increased this year, helping to offset costs associated with summer fallow acres too wet to seed. AgriStability, which provides further coverage against uncontrollable events like rising input costs or falling commodity prices, will increase from 70 to 80 per cent. This makes AgriStability coverage more responsive when an operation experiences a large margin decline and provides additional compensation to address the financial shortfall.

Livestock Price Insurance and the Wildlife Damage Compensation and Prevention Program are also offered through the SCIC to help mitigate risk for Saskatchewan producers.

To further support Saskatchewan agriculture, our government is urging the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to reconsider its decision to ban lambda-cyhalothrin, a pesticide used to control grasshoppers and flea beetles. We know that without access to effective pesticides, Saskatchewan’s agriculture sector is at an extreme disadvantage, and we want to ensure producers have all the resources they need.

Supported by this year’s budget, the agriculture industry is well-positioned to continue taking on challenges and building on successes. This budget will help farmers, ranchers and agri-business remain competitive and operate sustainably while producing safe, high-quality food. That’s growth that works for everyone. To learn more about the 2023-24 Provincial Budget, please visit Saskatchewan.ca/budget.