SFSDC Annual General Meeting 2015
The 2015 SFSDC Annual General Meeting was held in Nipawin, SK on December 2, 2015. David Maxwell, Chair welcomed the group and introduced the Board of Directors and speakers for the day as well as provided his annual report.
Two new Directors joined the SFSDC Board this year. They are Morris Nycholat from Whitefox, SK and David Cox from Nipawin, SK.
Marcel Enns of Carrot River, SK retired after six years of service on the Board. SFSDC would like to thank Marcel for his advice, effort, and time in support of the forage seed industry. Ray McVicar provided a report on the Commission’s activities and the 2014-2015 Audited Financial Statements were reviewed. Marcel Enns updated the group on the planned activities and Budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Milton & Associates, Regina, SK was appointed as Auditor for 2015-2016.
Highlights for 2014-2015 year in review include:
The Board held a Strategic Planning Session in March 2015 to lay out plans for the Commission’s activities and goals for the next three to five years. SFSDC has a small levy base with a limited budget, and Saskatchewan Agriculture provided the funds needed to carry out this important process. The results of the session indicated research continues to be the number one priority for SFSDC. Forage crop plant breeding, weed control, and alternate seeding methods are high on the list of research needs.
The research program was increased. NARF at the Melfort, SK Research Farm is the centre of most of our projects including:
The minor use herbicide program on seedling red, alsike and sweet clover, as well as established slender wheatgrass;
Plant growth regulator on established red clover; and
Foliar copper fertilizer applied in established grasses.
Saskatchewan Agriculture provided funding for two ADOPT projects that were completed at NARF in 2015. They are:
Fungicides on established timothy and tall fescue crops; and
Evaluating the Placement of Companion Crops in Forage Seed Production.
The Weed Control Program at the U of S in Saskatoon was contracted to expand our minor use herbicide program on cicer milkvetch, sainfoin, sweet clover, hybrid bromegrass, timothy and slender wheatgrass. Crops were planted in June and excellent stands were established.
The fertility project final report “Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Forage Seed Production” led by Dr. Fran Walley at the U of S is now on Saskatchewan Agriculture’s ADF website.
Starting in 2013-2014, SFSDC has provided $5,000 per year to the Saskatchewan Forage Network to fund new forage crop research at the U of S. To date, funding for three projects has been granted:
Development of crested wheatgrass lines with acceptable forage/seed yields and forage quality;
Development of new sainfoin lines with smaller seed size to reduce establishment costs; and
Comparison of barley forage with highest and lowest digestible fibre (NDF) in high production dairy cattle.
SFSDC was involved in two field tours in 2015. Thank you to AG-Vision Seeds and Denluc Farms for hosting the field tour near Carrot River on July 21. We also joined the NARF field day on July 22 that included the forage seed establishment project.
In 2014-2015, the levy decreased to $48,992 and the number of levy payers declined to 162. A total of 3.01 million kg of forage seed (excluding alfalfa) was purchased from Saskatchewan growers with a value of $6.57 Million.