Province And APAS In A War Of Words

Dec 03, 2021

In handing down the province's mid-year update Finance Minister Donna Harpauer projected a $2.7 billion deficit adding that the shortfall was mainly because of an expected $2.4 billion dollars in crop insurance claims.

APAS Vice President Ian Boxall responded in a press release saying over the years a surplus has been built up in Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation ( in 2020 SCIC reported a $2.4-billion surplus ) adding that it's not fair to blame producers for a provincial deficit in a drought year when that surplus gets used up.

Harpauer and Agriculture Minister David Marit responded with an open letter to APAS President Todd Lewis.

They called on APAS to retract the statement noting that to suggest that the provincial government is somehow blaming our agricultural producers for the financial deficit reported in the financial update presented earlier this week is not only false, it is offensive.

Thursday, Lewis responded with a letter to both ministers and a copy to the Premier saying producers are concerned that the general public has a perception that farmers are receiving a break or a bailout when they receive a crop insurance cheque.

He says pointing out that producers are not responsible for a deficit situation when previous year’s results are taken into account is our organization’s job, adding there was no intention to offend anybody.

See the full release exchange below.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.