Saskatchewan, 2 - 5 November 2010

Saskatchewan is the main grain growing province of Canada although over half of the area is covered in forest and lakes.  We travelled south from Flin Flon, a mining town, down highways 106, 6, 35 and 39 to Esteven, just above the US border.  Two nights were spent at a good B&B near Choicelands, approximately one hour east of Prince Albert.  The next two nights at another good B&B, near Midale, between Weyburn and Esteven close to the US border.

Boreal forest land southwest of Flin Flon, following highway 106.  Still on the Canadian shield evidenced by the rocks close to the surface.

As we travel south trees get bigger and there is logging and replanting of trees.

A snow fall of the previous week is still lying in many places and a lunch stop place is not so easy to find. This one beside the Puskwakau River on highway 106.  the 360 Km road was opened in 1965 having taken eight years to build.

Trees continue to get larger southward and timber processing takes place at Prince Albert not far south of this site.

Limited cropping appears amongst wooded areas below Narrow Hills Provincial Park about half an hour north of Smeaton on highway 55.

Our first B&B host were the Smiths of Bear Paw B&B between Smeaton and Choiceland.  Jeff was also a hunting outfitter here with a bull Moose.  They had two hunters staying at the same time.

Highway 55 eastward from Prince Albert marks the start of extensive cropping with seldom a fence to be seen.  Here liquid fertilizer stored away from settlements, probably Anhydrous Ammonia.

Most small fams have been amalgamated into large holdings either by aquisition or leasing arrangements.  Reminders of earlier times remain, often with old buildings within land reverted to trees or...

...sometimes left stark in fields.  The area was originally settled in the late 1920's and divided into "quarters" being a quarter of a square mile.  The term still in use today even although metric is now the official measurement in Canada.  Each settler's farm was a "quarter" being 160 acres, nearly 65 hectares.  Farm size is still often referred to as a certain  number of "quarters".  A large holding was referred to by one contact as working, "30 quarters", (4800 acres), nearly 2000 hectares.

Large paddocks without fences are normal.

The large scale of operations has neccessitated equipment to match.

Chemical development, particularly glyphosate (eg Roundup) has enabled minimal or nil cultivation between harvest and seeding.  Here an "air drill', a drill because it has "press wheels", with three seed hoppers on a trailer towed behind.  It covers a swath of 60 feet (just under 25 meters).  Often these seeders can also be coupled with fertilser hoppers or tanks for liquid fertilizer in a one pass operation.

Note:  An "air seeder" is similar to the above but does not have the "press wheels".

The latest in tractors is "self steer" based on satelite technology the tractor can keep an exact distance from the previous pass thus eliminating "misses" or too much overlap.  The driver has to turn the tractor at the end of the paddock, engaging the seeder etc all from the cab.  Here Ron Shymanski stands beside his new Canadian built self steer tractor.

Rail is still very important in transporting grains over long distances to markets.  Unfortunatley many smaller branch lines have been closed by rail companies.

In a few cases private groups have purchased "their train".  In this case the Choiceland train and line to Nipawin was purchased by local farmers to continue the link.  We noted lower deck is still used by road traffic.

Here the bridge is illustrated on a wall of a building in Nipawin in this historic impression.  The present engine is diesel and cars cross the bridge lower level instead of horses.

Mix of new and older bulk grain handling at a rail head.

Could this be a scene from Canterbury, New Zealand?  It is along highway 25 south of Nipawin, beside an experimental farm.

Toward the south of the province nearing the US border there was a lot of new drilling for oil  and accommodation was at a premium in the Weyburn - Estevan area.  Here a drill rig operating near the Rafferty Reservoir south of Midale.  The day after taking the photo it was packed up ready to move to a new location.  It had been all lit up and visible from our B&B...

...after sunset.

Not an uncommon sight in the same location.

Some with cattle grazing nearby, others in crop fields.

Modern large scale cropping near the US border along highway 18.

John Deere combine harvesters being steam cleaned at the end of the season before winter storage.  The good operators appeared to take good care of expensive machinery.

Lonely relics of a bygone era amongst expansive cropland as we left Saskatchewan and Canada.