Smoke rises from a wildfire near Wildwood, Alta., about 100 km west of Edmonton, on May 5, 2023. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)

Alberta ‘crossing fingers’ for rain amid wildfires

CN mainline traffic west of Edmonton suspended

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Firefighters were counting on rain and cooler weather forecast for Monday to help them quell a dramatic start to Alberta’s wildfire season. The province declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to wildfires in northern and central regions that have displaced nearly 30,000 people and prompted energy producers to shut in […] Read more

Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in degrees Celsius over the tropical Pacific Ocean for the week centred on April 12, 2023. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

World could face record temperatures in 2023 as El Nino returns

New record highs 'more likely than not'

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The world could breach a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, fuelled by climate change and the anticipated return of the El Nino weather phenomenon, climate scientists say. Climate models suggest that after three years of the La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, which generally lowers global […] Read more


File photo of an irrigated alfalfa stand in Saudi Arabia. (JohnnyGreig/E+/Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia highly dependent on grain imports

Alfalfa more profitable for domestic growers

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — While Saudi Arabia is a giant among the oil-producing countries of the world, the desert kingdom does produce small amounts of grain. With a population that’s about one million less than Canada’s, Saudi Arabia is extremely dependent on importing its grain from overseas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) attaché in Riyadh explained […] Read more

(Fentino/E+/Getty Images)

Carbon price exemption for farm gas clears Commons

Bill C-234 next headed to Senate

Reading Time: 3 minutes Legislative amendments that would exempt farmers’ eligible purchases of natural gas and propane from federal carbon pricing are now en route to Canada’s Senate. Bill C-234, a private member’s bill sponsored by Ben Lobb, the Conservative MP for the southern Ontario riding of Huron-Bruce, passed third reading for adoption in the House of Commons on […] Read more


Reg Schellenberg. (Schellenberg family photo via Canadian Cattlemen)

Canadian Cattle Association president Reg Schellenberg dies

Saskatchewan rancher had led CCA since March

Reading Time: 3 minutes Updated, Dec. 7 — Western Saskatchewan rancher Reg Schellenberg, who had led the national organization representing Canada’s beef cattle producers since March this year, died suddenly Friday at age 63. The Canadian Cattle Association reported Schellenberg’s death in a release Saturday, adding that the association’s current vice-president, rancher Nathan Phinney of Sackville, N.B., will now […] Read more

Drought expands across western Prairies

Drought expands across western Prairies

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Drought conditions expanded across Alberta and Saskatchewan in October, with very little precipitation across the agricultural regions of the two provinces since August. That’s according to the latest Canadian Drought Monitor from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as of Oct. 31. At the end of that month, 72 per cent of the Prairie region […] Read more


File photo of a snow-topped field in Alberta. (Don White/iStock/Getty Images)

Cold, snowy start seen to Prairies’ winter

Reading Time: 1 minute MarketsFarm — Although the official calendar start to winter isn’t until Dec. 21, conditions on the Canadian Prairies are now winter-like, according to Weatherlogics chief scientist Scott Kehler. “For the month of November, it looks like we’re off to a cold start for most of the Prairies. The western Prairies… had quite a significant winter […] Read more

File photo of a sunrise over an Alberta barley crop. (MNphotography/iStock/Getty Images)

Alberta issues final crop report for year

Harvest over 98 per cent done by region and crop type

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm –– For the second year in a row the Alberta harvest wrapped up well ahead of the five-year average. With a gain of three points for the week ended Tuesday, Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development (AFRED) pegged the combining of major crops at 99.2 per cent complete. That’s 22 and a half […] Read more


(Creativex/iStock/Getty Images)

Manitoba’s harvest 79 per cent complete, report says

Cereal harvest wrapped in most areas

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Harvest operations across Manitoba were 79 per cent complete as of Tuesday, according to the latest crop report from the provincial agriculture department. That figure was up from 63 per cent the previous week, but two weeks off the five-year average of 89 per cent. Harvest progress was the most advanced in central […] Read more

(File photo)

Manitoba to cut Crown forage lease rates

Previous years' forage conditions a factor, province says

Reading Time: 2 minutes The rents paid by Manitoba producers using Crown lands to produce perennial forages will be cut in half next year and by smaller amounts the following two years. Provincial Ag Minister Derek Johnson on Wednesday announced the forage lease rent on agricultural Crown land will be reduced by 50 per cent in 2023, 33 per […] Read more