Business community celebrates agricultural industry at appreciation night
An evening of good food and entertainment provided a great way to acknowledge the important role of the farming community in southwest Saskatchewan.
The Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce hosted a sold-out Agriculture Appreciation Night at the Living Sky Casino Event Centre, Feb. 23.
The Chamber organizes this signature event annually to recognize and celebrate the important contribution of the agricultural industry to the region’s economy.
Chamber CEO Karla Wiens said the event set an attendance record with 270 people seated for the supper.
“We had overwhelming response,” she noted. “We didn’t even really have to advertise tickets. It just blew up, which I think is a testament to celebrating agriculture in general, but also due to our wildly popular entertainer that we have this year.”
The entertainment after the meal was provided by Saskatchewan farmer and standup comedian Dickson Delorme, more commonly known as Quick Dick Mcdick.
There were also greetings and messages of appreciation from several dignitaries before supper. The speakers included Cypress Hills-grasslands MP Jeremy Patzer, Cypress Hills MLA Doug Steele and Swift Current Deputy Mayor Leanne Tuntland-wiebe.
Wiens said the intention of this annual event is to bring people together to celebrate one of the most important industries in both southwest Saskatchewan and the world.
“Food is a basic human need that we all have, no matter where you are from in the world, what your background is,” she said. “The agriculture community, whether you are a primary producer or involved in the retail side of it, in the technology or the research, all of those men and women deserve to be celebrated. We’re only taking one evening to do it, but they deserve to be celebrated and appreciated every day.”
The event provides an opportunity to the business community to show their appreciation. Businesses with customers in the agricultural industry will purchase tables and invite their clients to join them for a fun night.
“So there is a large number of producers in the room, which is fantastic to see,” she said.
“We need that corporate involvement for sponsorship. These events aren’t possible without their involvement, but it’s very heartwarming to see that they are inviting their clients, some of their staff, and to come together and visit.”
Wiens mentioned that agricultural producers are members of the Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce. One of the appealing aspects of membership for individual farms is the access to the Chambers of Commerce group insurance plan.
“They need to be offering some sort of benefit program for themselves, their families, their staff, their staff’s families for peace of mind,” she said. “If something goes wrong, benefits are hugely important, whether it’s health or dental or whatever it happens to be. The program that the Chambers can offer, because it’s national across Canada, is very competitive and a lot of farmers will take advantage of that. It helps with attracting employees and more importantly, retaining them.”
The remarks by dignitaries before the supper emphasized the importance of the agricultural industry in the province.
“The family farm is really what is at the heart of Saskatchewan, whether you’re a farmer, whether you’re a rancher,” Patzer said. “That really is what’s woven into the fabric of our society.”
Steele mentioned that Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry posted a fourth consecutive year of record agri-food exports totalling $20.2 billion in 2023. Tuntland-wiebe spoke about the importance of the agricultural industry in providing jobs, causing innovation and sustaining rural communities.
“When I say that agriculture is the heartbeat of the southwest region of Saskatchewan, that is not to dismiss other industries,” she said. “However, agriculture is not merely an industry. It’s a way of life. It even gives us life by sustaining our very existence on a personal level. Every crop, every harvest, every animal fed, raised and sold, told the story of ongoing dedication, tireless perseverance, and unwavering passion.”
Patzer said after his remarks during a media interview that the federal carbon tax remains a key issue for him as a member of the opposition Conservative Party in Parliament. It is his party’s priority to scrap the tax once they are able to form government.
“I can’t reinforce that enough,” he said. “I hear from producers across the board that is one of the main things that is really hitting them. So scrapping that is going to be first. Second of all is making sure that we strengthen and reinforce our trade relationships that we have. The Prime Minister has strained a lot of our trade relationships around the world. … We need to make sure that we do what we can at the federal side to support the provinces, rather than being adversarial.”
A common concern he heard at the event from producers was the lack of snow and need for moisture for the spring planting season and for pastures, and to fill up dugouts.
He mentioned his ongoing efforts to get his private member’s bill passed in Parliament. It has already received three readings in the House of Commons and first reading in the Senate.
The bill will amend the Copyright Act to ensure that technological innovations by agricultural and other manufacturers in Saskatchewan and the rest of Canada are allowed to be interoperable with systems developed by original equipment manufacturers (OEMS). For example, it will allow a harvest header designed and manufactured in Saskatchewan to be used on different machinery.
“If we don’t do something with our copyright law, which is what I’m targeting with this bill to allow for the short-line manufacturers to get the information that they need from the main OEMS like John Deere and New Holland, we might not have the next great innovation that is going to be needed in the industry,” he said.
The performance by Delorme at the Agriculture Appreciation Night in Swift Current was part of his Quick Dick Mcdick small town comedy tour this winter. The tour concluded the following evening in Maple Creek, after which he was taking a break to focus on calving season and seeding.
He said during a media interview before his stage performance at the Living Sky Casino that he approached his comedy tour in a similar way as a rodeo career.
“I just go for the weekends and then I go home through the week and look after the farm and everything,” he noted.
He estimated that over 90 per cent of the material for his comedy routine comes from the farm and small-town Canada. He enjoys sharing it and to let everybody have a good time listening to it.
“I’m not going to say small-town Saskatchewan, because “I’ve done this show in Alberta, Manitoba and BC, and it’s small-town humour,” he said. “And then obviously, because we’re in western Canada, I got to juice it up with a little bit of politics here and there, which we seem to have quite a bit of fun with.”
He aims to connect with audiences through material that they can relate to and that provides them with an entertaining time.
“I think it’s just important for everybody to be able to get off the farm and get into a place and laugh and have a good time with each other,” he said.
“It’s something that’s been missing out of our lives. It was kind of sparked by the pandemic that everybody started staying home. It’s important for everybody to get back out, get into their communities, get together and have some fun, and I guess the most important thing is for everybody to realize just how much we all have in common with each other.”