By Jamie Shanks, Communications Branch, Regina
Sometimes opportunity knocks—and sometimes it sits right down with you at your kitchen table.
For Creelman-area producer Quinton Cole, who runs a mixed grain and cattle operation, he was reading an article about crop reporters in Agriview last summer when he spotted something that immediately caught his attention.
“There was a map showing the current crop reporters, and I looked at it and was like, holy smokes, there’s literally no one anywhere near us that does it,” he says. “We actually live at the corner of four rural municipalities, and only one of them has a crop reporter, and they’re at the extreme opposite end of the municipality.”
This was all the inspiration Quinton needed to promptly join the ranks of over 200 like-minded volunteers across the province who act as crop reporters during the growing season and, as he puts it, become a voice for his neighbours. He already followed the Ministry of Agriculture’s weekly report and had an appreciation for the key information it provides about agricultural factors such as rainfall trends and moisture levels in fields and pastures.
The reasons for his appreciation are many, but the best one is perhaps the most straightforward.
“Knowledge is power,” he says.
“Knowing things about what’s going on elsewhere in the province can be valuable to our operation, but just being ‘in the know’—I saw value in that. It’s definitely something I’m hoping to promote a bit more.”
As a reporter himself now, Quinton admits he’s essentially doing what he’d do normally in the course of his day. This includes talking with friends and neighbours about what practices they’re using and why, or noting local weather and plant or soil conditions relevant to operations like his own—even something like simply checking a rain gauge. However, sharing what he learns from these routine observations is, to him, an opportunity to help other producers in his immediate area and beyond.
And the benefits of his contributions don’t end there. The value of his information increases immeasurably when added to that of the other reporters who submit observations from their own regions, either by phone or online. The resulting Crop Report is, in its published form, an essential service for everyone from producers to government specialists to industry analysts, as well as investors and markets both here and abroad. Saskatchewan is known internationally as a reliable and world-leading supplier of sustainable food and food products, connected with global markets that rely on our exports to feed a hungry, and growing, population, and the Crop Report is a critical, real-time snapshot of the agriculture sector’s progress.
The ministry is actively seeking volunteers like Quinton who are interested in being part of this effort and filling the gaps that exist in reporter coverage across the province. The rewards go both ways.
“I’m just passionate about agriculture and making the industry more sustainable,” he says. “If I can help give people better information, that’s part of my motivation.”
To learn more, please visit our Crop Report page.