Agriculture minister David Marit says Wednesday’s provincial budget provides significant funding increases for agriculture.

Marit says the agriculture budget totals 548 million dollars, up 20 percent.

He says there are PST exemptions for storage buildings for vegetable producers in the Outlook irrigation district and for boats used in wild rice harvesting in northern Saskatchewan.

He adds there’s increased support for water development and improvements to crop insurance and municipal revenue sharing.

The budget also provides one million dollars to target invasive weed control on farm Crown land pasturees, and more than 38 million dollars for farm research.

The agristability compensation rate will increase from 70 to 80 percent for this year, to better support farmers in times of need.
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