October is Agriculture Month in Saskatchewan.

This year’s theme is Stewards in Sustainability which celebrates farmers, ranchers and agri-businesses who strive to maintain and improve the environment.
 
Deputy Agriculture minister Alanna Koch says protecting the environment is an important part of agriculture.

"Sustainable practices protect resources for future food production while at the same time is ensuring the public's acceptance of what we do which we call 'building our social license' so we want to continue to do what is right in the eyes of the public and we also want to make sure that we have the ability to feed the growing population, recognizing that we have an obligation to produce that food but also recognizing that we need to do it in the most sustainable way as possible."

The money invested into agriculture research have a major impact according to Koch, "We make sure that those research investments for example that we're making in some of our varieties, our improved crop varities that we can actually produce higher yields of better quality on the same amount of land as previous generations becasue of these improved genetics and better for example, water use efficiencies or nutrient efficencies."

She adds sustainability addresses the industry’s need to meet the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.