Saskatchewan potash can be billed as the Porsche of fertilizers – by Les Mapcherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – August 3, 2013)

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There was a time not so long ago when the Russians threatened us with nuclear annihilation. That they now are only threatening our potash revenues is a big improvement. This, we can handle.

Stuck with piles of surplus potash, the Russians have withdrawn from an international producers’ cartel that helped stabilize prices. They now will unload their potash for a lower price, compelling producers elsewhere to do likewise.

In Saskatchewan, it’s a swift kick right in the potash revenues. The precipitous drop in share prices for Saskatchewan potash producers could foretell the future for provincial royalties.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan shares fell overnight by 25 per cent, Mosaic shares, likewise. If provincial potash revenues are similarly reduced, we’ll have to turn in our New Saskatchewanembroidered silk underwear and go back to the old, cotton flour bags with the corners cut off for our legs to go through. Good thing we saved them.

Don’t panic, counsels Premier Brad Wall. Of course, urging us not to panic is the premier’s job. When the time does come for panic, Wall still will be saying don’t panic.

Investors still hanging on to potash shares then will be wishing they had panicked sooner.

In this case, however, Wall is right. There is no better place in the world to mine potash than in Saskatchewan. We have the best deposits, the best workforce and the best investment climate.

And what do the Russians have? They have Putin, unaccountable oligarchies and systematic persecution of gays. If we can’t beat the Russians in a potash war, we should turn in our hard hats.

What we have to do first is differentiate Saskatchewan potash from the Russian product. Of course Russian potash costs less, we can tell our customers. That’s because Russian potash is inferior.

We can prove it with the Saskatchewan potash taste test: “One of these bowls contains rice fertilized with Saskatchewan potash. The other

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