An Organic and Low Input Agricultural Systems Field Day and Tradeshow in Swift Current recently was well attended.

Gary Johnson is President of SaskOrganics and says the crowd of over 150 people took part in the event which included organic and conventional producers.

He says we’re seeing a growing interest in the sector.

“We’ve had real investments in Western Canada Verdient Foods at Vanscoy – a food fractionation, Roquette Canada building an extremely large pea processing facility in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. There are others that are looking and inquiring to the Ministry of Agriculture in Saskatchewan.”

Producers taking part in Wednesday’s Field Day had a chance to see some of the work being done at AAFC's Swift Current Research and Development Centre with intercropping, cover crops, tillage timing, and intensity.

Johnson says he’s pleased with all the research that is being done in Organic Agriculture.

“We’re being taught by science that microbial activity in the soil is very important not to disturb them a great deal. We’re learning to be more intensive and keep something green and growing on our farm as far as winter cover crops. I think the whole idea, of course, is to maintain and enhance our soil.”

The latest stats on organic production are from 2016 and show Saskatchewan has about 1.2 million acres.

In that report, it showed 912 certified organic operations, 839 primary producers, 89 processors and 32 organic livestock operations.