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Special crops are considered to be non-traditional cash crops such as: herbs (including echinacea, borage, basil), spices (such as coriander, caraway, fenugreek, dill), canaryseed, hemp, buckwheat, safflower and triticale.

Herbs and spices represent crop diversification opportunities for Saskatchewan producers. Herbs and spices are high value crops, with nearly 400 producers and an estimated 40,000 acres in production annually. Crops of significance include caraway, coriander, borage, dill, echinacea, fever few and others. Market opportunity exists in the areas of distilled essential oils, dried culinary products, medicinal and aromatic products.

There has been a dramatic increase in production and primary processing of specialty crops, especially in, Saskatchewan. Special crop demonstration and agronomic research is carried out at seven Special Crop sites throughout the province.

Celebrate – Farming
With Thanksgiving falling during this time, it’s important to give thanks for this year’s harvest and to everyone who works in Alberta’s second most important industry.  Did you know that in our province, 69,300 people work in the primary agriculture sector?  They work sun-up to sun down to put food on your table.  As well, over 59,000 Alberta farms produce 23% of Canada’s farm cash receipts.  That’s almost 1/4 of the national output.  In Alberta that worked out to $7.4 billion in 2000.  When it comes to land, farming uses all sorts of terrain.  Over 30% of Alberta’s land is dedicated to crop and livestock production.  Farming – just one of the components that makes up the agriculture and food industry.

Celebrate – Food & Beverage Processing
Agriculture provides a bounty of wealth to Alberta.  Not only in dollars, but in jobs and exports as well.  One of the areas that continues to grow year after year is Food and Beverage Processing.  They’re Alberta’s largest manufacturing sector – contributing $9.2 billion to our economy in 2000!  However, by 2010 that number is expected to double!  Right now, over 500 companies process food in Alberta, which reaches up to 110 countries every year.  But in order to meet industry targets, 18,000 new people must be hired in the next five years!  From October 7-13, celebrate Agriculture & Food Week and give thanks for everyone who helps put food on your table.

Celebrate – Retail Food Sector
You probably never even give it a second thought.  As you walk down the aisle of your favorite grocery store, checking things off your list – chances are you never realized that the store you’re in, where you’re asked if you want paper or plastic, is a part of a billion dollar industry.  $7.2 billion to be exact.  The Retail Food Industry in Alberta is an economic powerhouse!  And our province is home to over 1800 retail food outlets alone.  This industry is one of the reasons we should recognize Agriculture & Food Week, October 7-13.  Over 46,400 people go to work in this retail food sector providing you with fresh meats and produce, canned goods, and your favorite barbecue fixings.  So grab a grocery cart and give thanks to the people who help put your favorite foods on the shelf.

Celebrate – Restaurants & Food Service
Whether you’re celebrating New Year’s at a local watering hole, enjoying a fancy dinner for two in an elegant restaurant or grabbing a burger on the run – you’re contributing to a big business!  Alberta’s Restaurant and Food Service Industry earns over $4 billion a year.  And it’s a very important part of the agriculture and food industry in our province.  But we don’t have to tell you that.  Albertans spend 39 cents of every food dollar in food service.  That’s the highest in Canada!  The food service and restaurant industry currently employs over 87,600 people – as managers, servers, cooks – you name it.  Celebrate Agriculture & Food Week, October 7-13.  To find out how your food gets from the field to your fork, pick up the latest issue of Food for Thought magazine, available now at Safeway, IGA Garden Markets, Save-On Foods, Calgary Co-op, Sunterra Markets and Alberta Treasury Branches.

More than 450,000 acres of Manitoba farmland is used to grow special crops such as potatoes, sugar beets and pulse crops. This land is generally light-textured and very prone to wind erosion if not properly protected. Complicating the issue is the fact that special crops produce very little crop residue to protect the soil.

Wind erosion does more than remove valuable topsoil. It also removes the organic matter that holds the soil together and conserves moisture, while improving its tilth and structure. Soils that have lost much of their organic material become even more susceptible to wind erosion. It also provides a kind of nutrient bank, releasing nutrients for crop use.

The best way to protect erosion-prone soils is to use a complete management system including shelterbelts, cover crops, proper residue management and crop rotations. Annual barriers can also be a component of the system. (more…)

A cattle farming is a means to get out of poverty. In the third world country NGOs worked as money lenders who specializes in unsecured loans to housewives, with payments made each week, and in monthly consumer credit loans. These NGOs are likely to withstand a recession as they focuses on poorer consumers. Their activities tend not to be sensitive to interest rates, but bad debts do represent a risk. The management aims to offset bad debts by boosting market share. They also organize consumer credit counseling for the poor people whom they target to lend money.

These organizations provide unsecured loans to borrowers who cannot easily obtain credit from other sources. Their market is comprised of low-income groups. Despite credit counseling service in Bangladesh, bad debts account for 4% of loans outstanding. The organizations have the capacity to increase through acquisitions.

Poor people who are living under poverty cannot easily obtain credit elsewhere. These poor people need to have small amount of money to start a business. Sheep farming is such a business which requires a small amount of money. Due to high productivity within a short period of time they can have another sheep. For any hard working farmer it becomes a very good opportunity to change his life. These days even in developed countries financial organization extended their help the poor people.

In this business of the financial organizations credit assessment is important. These organizations use self-employed agents to make weekly collections from customers who live mainly in the locality. They motivate people in the locality through credit counseling to minimize the risk involved in lending. These organizations account for a smaller share of profits but have greater growth potential, and provide credit for hire