Page 4 - #RealDirt - The Real Dirt on Farming: Saskatchewan Digest Edition

Here are the top things Canadians asked
about food and farming.
What grabs the headlines about food and farming? Usually it’s bad news, and it often doesn’t tell the whole story. Let us answer a few of the big questions we’re commonly asked and give you the real ‘Dirt’ on food and farming in Canada.
Patrick Ackerman, grain farmer, Chamberlain, SK
1 Let’s talk plants and crops
Canadian farms provide a diverse range of plants and crops for domestic and international markets. There are literally hundreds of crops being grown in fields and greenhouses across the country – from more traditional crops like canola, wheat and barley, to pulses, fruit and vegetables, flowers and specialty crops. Here are a few cool facts:
• Canada is the world’s largest exporter of pulses and Saskatchewan is the nation’s number one producer of those crops. The eight major pulse and specialty crops are: peas, lentils, beans, chickpeas, mustard, sunflowers, canaryseed and buckwheat.
• Saskatchewan grows 99 per cent of Canada’s chickpeas, 96 per cent of lentils, 86 per cent of durum wheat, 83 per cent of flaxseed and 60 per cent of Canada’s dry peas.
• Canada is a world leader in the production and export of mustard – 70 per cent of that comes from Saskatchewan. In fact, more than one quarter of world mustard exports in 2014 originated in Saskatchewan.
• Canola was developed in the 1970s by Canadian plant scientists and is now the cooking oil of choice for millions around the world. Approximately half of Canada’s canola is grown in Saskatchewan.
• Canada’s principal grain and oilseed crops are corn, wheat, soybeans and canola.
• Hundreds of different crops are grown in fields and greenhouses across the country – from more traditional crops like canola, wheat and barley to pulses, fruits and vegetables, flowers and specialty crops. Saskatchewan farmers produce about 2.26 million kilograms of fruit per year, from apples and rhubarb to Saskatoon berries and sour cherries.
• New Canadian immigrants are actively looking for produce that they are familiar with from their native countries, so some farmers have begun growing crops that are not traditional in Canada – crops like bok choy, nappa, okra, Indian and Asian eggplant, hard long beans and more.
A field of mustard in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission
f4 The Real Dirt on Farming
Mustard seed
Lentil crop
Quick fact:
Saskatchewan is leading the development of a new oilseed crop, camelina, a healthy cooking oil which can also be used in fish and broiler chicken feed, bio-lubricants and jet fuel.