'Saskatchewan's largest annual megaproject': Producers expected to invest over $11B seeding, caring for 2023 crops
More than $11 billion will be invested by farmers across Saskatchewan to get their crops into the ground in 2023, according to a report from Economic Development Regina (EDR).
EDR said the report takes into account the cost of seed, treatment, fertilizer and labour to land on the $11 billion total.
The $11 billion also focuses on three major crops, canola, spring wheat and lentils.
Canola makes up $5 billion, spring wheat $3.3 billion and lentils $922 million, according to EDR’s report.
The report says producers in Saskatchewan are expected to seed about 12 million acres of canola in 2023, a 3.7 per cent increase over 2022. Spring wheat will cover about 9.2 million acres in 2023, a 10 per cent increase from last year and 3.5 million acres seeded is expected to be lentils, which is down 7.7 per cent from 2022. However, EDR said it’s part of a trend taking place across Canada.
“Seeding is without question Saskatchewan’s largest annual megaproject,” EDR president and CEO Chris Lane said in a news release. “When you consider the impact of this work extending across our economy, it’s impossible to overstate the value of agriculture to our province and our city.”
According to the report, there were over 34,000 farms in Saskatchewan comprising more than 43 per cent of cropland in Canada.
Saskatchewan generated more than $18.4 billion in international sales and contributed over $82 billion to the province’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, the report says.
The latest crop report from the provincial government said that Saskatchewan producers have now seeded 89 per cent of the 2023 crop.
The northwest region has 97 per cent of this year’s crop in the ground, followed by the west-central with 94 per cent and the southwest at 90 per cent.
The least seeded part of the province is currently the southeast, however, 80 per cent of the crop is in the ground in that region, the province said.
EDR’s full report can be read here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Minimum wage rises in six provinces, but is it enough?
Amid a cost-of-living crisis driving up food bank visits and economic anxiety, the minimum wage increased in six provinces today – but both advocates and critics fear it may not be enough to tackle the overarching problem.
Half of millennials and Gen Z living paycheque-to-paycheque in Canada while stressing about climate crisis: survey
Struggling under the rising cost of living and an ever mounting fear of the climate crisis, young Canadians don’t see a positive future for themselves right now, according to a recent national survey.
Couple and dog killed by bear at Banff National Park
Two people are dead after a bear attack in Alberta's Banff National Park.
Ontario expands pharmacists' prescription powers to include 6 more common ailments
Ontario residents can now access treatment and medication for six more common ailments at pharmacies across the province.
Taylor Swift watches Travis Kelce's Chiefs take on the Jets at MetLife Stadium
Taylor Swift couldn't just shake off another chance to watch Travis Kelce on the football field. The 12-time Grammy Award winner arrived at MetLife Stadium about 40 minutes before kickoff Sunday night to watch Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs take on the New York Jets.
Federal prisoner with terminal illness granted parole on compassionate grounds to die outside of jail
A terminally ill federal prisoner, who has been fighting for a compassionate release to die outside of jail, has been granted day parole.
'A giant in life': Saskatchewan Roughriders icon George Reed passes away, aged 83
George Reed, one of the most prolific running backs in Canadian Football League (CFL) history and a legend of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, has passed away. He was 83.
5 dead after single-vehicle crash near Swan River, Man.
Swan River RCMP are investigating a single-vehicle crash that killed five people in western Manitoba Saturday afternoon.
Tim Wakefield, who revived his career and Red Sox trophy case with knuckleball, has died at 57
Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballing workhorse of the Red Sox pitching staff who bounced back after giving up a season-ending home run to the Yankees in the 2003 playoffs to help Boston win its curse-busting World Series title the following year, has died. He was 57.