SaskWheat to host "Grade School" for farmers

Farmers in the Outlook and Unity areas have an opportunity next week to learn the basics of grain grading.

The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (SaskWheat) is hosting Grade School from Unity's Community Centre on Tuesday, November 18 and from the Jim Kook Recreation Complex in Outlook on Wednesday, November 19. Both start at 8 a.m. 

According to information on the SaskWheat website, representatives from the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) will be there to "explain different grading factors to producers. In addition, they will be showing producers how to collect a representative sample of grain and the benefits of utilizing programs such as the Harvest Sample Program* and Final Quality Determination. "

Communications and Events Coordinator Montana Getty-Hilash says people need to register in order to participate and spots are limited to 50 people per location. 

"We don't want it to be too many people where the CGC representatives can't have one-on-one conversations with them," said Getty-Hilash. "Between 30 and 50 people is the perfect amount of attendance for these events."

One of the featured speakers is Susanne Leclerc, owner of Market Master, an Alberta-based grain brokerage firm. She will talk about grain contracts.

"(It's) a massive topic that we hear about feedback with this event is that lots of people need to learn more about grain contracts, how they work, what the in's and out's are, and what producers need to know." said Getty-Hilash.

She said Grade School will be more hands-on compared to other events, which focus on observing, but it has gained plenty of positive feedback