Pure convenience

January 29, 2024

While it might not seem like it--wetlands, it's the same for areas of bush, have a cost to maintain--they are, after all, natural areas, and Mother Nature does her thing, allowing the areas to survive nicely. Farmers hold deeds to such areas, and with some work, they could be growing wheat or canola. Even if the land is not ideal for crop production, when canola is floating near the $20 a bushel mark, farmers see a reason to drain sloughs and cut down bush.

There is also the matter of pure convenience. As machinery has gotten ever larger, maneuvering around natural areas can be an issue, especially when staff with more limited hours in the tractor seat are at the helm. A quarter section clear corner-to-corner is just easier to manage. One might even suggest that when a slough goes, so too do the ducks and geese stopping in and eating crops. So, for a farmer, there is a pull to eliminate natural areas.

However, there are notable reasons to keep them too, as the Provincial Association of Resort Communities of Saskatchewan has pointed out in a series of recent Facebook posts. For example, the first post noted wetlands are home to a wonderful and interesting diversity of species.