Saskatoon, Sasketchewan

It was great to drive the journey from Calgary, Alberta to Saskatoon, Sasketchewan. There was a lot more cattle country, and the crops were not nearly as good as the ones in Alberta. They picked up as we got closer to Saskatoon though. On the way in we stopped at this John Deere machinery dealership and Shea was in delight wandering around the massive yard!

Took a pick off this lentil crop as we did not know what it was, and needed some help to identify! Not very tall at all, I wouldnt want any rocks in this paddock when harvesting!

We arrived in Saskatoon at Ian McPhaddins house. Ian had done a Nuffield scholarship a few years ago. He is no longer farming, but leases all his land and lives in the city. He was a great contact, as he was once the president of AgWest, a company that sponsors and helps small biotech companies get there ideas off the ground. We had good discussion about GM crops, and we were able to visit AgWest and talk to the current president about new technologies, and some of the challenges they are facing with regulations of gm crops. We stayed at Ian and Penny's house the night!

On Thursday, we visited a company called Infraready in Saskatoon. They are using infrared technology to 'cook' all types of whole grains and market them all over the world. They are marketing lots of different products, such as 'purple wheat', a product that is high in 'anthocynins' (the good stuff in blueberries) (and yep its purple-but not GM!). They are also using a different type of barley as a kitty litter and it has been a real hit!! They were a great company to visit!

We visited some farmers that had switched from a large grain farm, to a small chook farm and running a 'natural' on farm food shop selling all types of meat produce. They are not organic, but the title 'natural' brings them a lot of benefits!! They also ran a restaurant in the city using their produce They were great marketers and interesting to hear there story. Shea was also in bliss checking out all the butchering equipment!!