Irrigation Project Offers Huge Potential

Irrigation Project Offers Huge Potential Jeff Gaye

A multi-phase $4 billion expansion of the province’s irrigation system will provide major benefits for agriculture, secondary industries and communities in Saskatchewan, according to Aaron Gray of the Saskatchewan Irrigation Projects Association (SIPA).

The project, announced by the Saskatchewan government in July, will upgrade and expand irrigation infrastructure from the Lake Diefenbaker basin. It will be conducted over three phases and will take 10 years to complete.

When finished it will more than double the irrigable land in the province. Work on Phase 1 will begin this year.

Gray says the increased irrigation capacity will be a huge boost for the beef industry’s entire supply chain from forage crops to feedlots, and could even position the province to attract a major packer or processing company.

“Every time you can turn on a milliondollar rain at the at the flip of a switch, especially for value-added—when you can guarantee you can have your feedstocks for your animals year in and year out and can bank on so many tonnes a year—that’s a win for any type of industry,” he said.

Gray says the ability to expand reliable production will create all kinds of synergies among different industries. Byproducts from corn grown for ethanol production, for example, can be used in feedlots, as can wheat straw.

“You can dramatically increase tonnage of corn and you can grow direct feedstocks for your cattle, but that’s not where the value-added is,” he said. “Basically it’s from the processing facilities. It’s your byproducts that are created. “Look at our ethanol plant right now. The dry distiller grains that come out are perfect for feedstocks.” He says the number of feedlots in the Lethbridge-Taber area of Alberta is related to the success of irrigation projects there and the proliferation of related activity.

“You get millers or cleaning facilities or processing facilities with byproducts, let alone being able to grow your own crop or your corn or big barley silage,” he said. “And the nice thing too, is when you have irrigated wheat, for example, you grow so much straw. Instead of putting it back into the ground, you want to get rid of it. And what better use than to have a feedlot at your back door that you can supply straw? Every industry complements everybody if they can grow the crop.”

“But if you have no rain, you have no grain.”

Gray predicts that more efficient and predictable feed supplies will encourage expansion of the feeding sector, and this could eventually attract a packing plant.

“There’s no reason why that could not happen. We did have a packing plant in Moose Jaw, the plant is still there, and it’s not very far from the end of Phase 3,” he said.

“The more feedlots you put up the cheaper and more feasible it will be to put a packing plant in instead of having to truck the cattle west to get slaughtered. That’s a very good possibility.”

Whether it’s meat or other food products—Gray mentions the Cavendish Farms potato plant in Lethbridge— Saskatchewan’s infrastructure is ready to handle growth, he said. The availability of workers from Saskatoon would benefit growers near Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the project, and Moose Jaw and Regina are near the Global Transportation Hub with its road and rail connections. Reliable, less weather-dependent production could also re-energize smaller communities by bringing in workers and their families. “If you get the value-added crop producers, the employment can easily come out of the city and it might start migrating young families into the rural area. And it just might start revitalizing the schools in some of our towns,” he said.

A provincial government news release says the irrigation projects are building blocks for regional economic development in Saskatchewan. “Initial estimates show the investment will result in a $40 to $80 billion increase in the provincial Gross Domestic Product over the next 50 years. The project is estimated to create 2,500 construction jobs a year, over the next 10 years,” the release reads.

Gray says “it’s just something that has been long overdue for Saskatchewan—to try to make the Palliser Triangle’s desertlike conditions profitable.

“The land is good here,” he said. “Just some years the tap doesn’t turn on at the right time.” B

Wetlands cont. from pg. 10

“Agricultural water management is extremely important to our economy and the environment, but every region of our province is different,” Ottenbreit said. “We need to listen and learn from, and work with farmers and ranchers on the landscape.

“These projects will allow stakeholders, WSA and local leaders to better understand how we can solve complex

water management issues.” B