Sask. irrigators urged to make straw available for feed

WESTERN PRODUCER — Grain producers are again being encouraged to drop their straw at harvest so it can be baled and used by others for feed and bedding.

For the second straight year, the South Saskatchewan River Irrigation District No. 1 (SSRID) in Outlook, Sask., is co-ordinating a drop straw campaign for livestock producers who may face feed shortages this winter.

Rather than spreading it as chaff, irrigators are encouraged to sell their straw this fall.

“It’s community-minded farmers helping farmers,” said Matthew Lawless, a director at SSRID.

“Last year, with the drought, and then this year with the continuing drought in some parts of the province, irrigation land has more consistent and reliable sources of straw so irrigators are co-operating to provide a source of straw to stock growers who may require it for feed or for bedding to get their herds through the

The district has 125 irrigators with 46,000 acres under centre-pivot irrigation, much of it in the Rural Municipality of Rudy. Irrigation starts at Lake Diefenbaker, runs as far west as Outlook, as far east as Glenside and to the northern end of the RM.

The SSRID office is co-ordinating communication between farmers and livestock producers through the following process: