Agriculture still reason Sask. exists

For anyone who pauses for even a couple of minutes to reflect on what drives Saskatchewan the answer is quite obviously agriculture. The same is largely true for the rest of the Prairies too.

Yes today the economies are more diverse, oil and gas, and potash being examples, but take away agriculture and the region would be a mere shadow of what it is today.

In that regard it was interesting to attend a recent Arbor Week event held at the old brick mill location in Yorkton.

During the event it was noted how the mill was once a hub of activity locally. Farmers would bring wheat in and take home flour and the time spent at the mill made it a place to share stories and create friendships.

The rather unassuming box-like building which has stood for decades hardly looks like it could have been so integral to the early days of Yorkton, but it was.

People populated the area to farm, and a flour mill was an important market which helped Yorkton in it’s path to being an agricultural service centre.