Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Low water levels on the Mississippi River are likely to persist this winter as drier-than-normal weather is expected across the southern U.S. and Gulf Coast, U.S. government forecasters said on Thursday. Drought, which currently spans 59 per cent of the country, is expected to continue or worsen in the middle and lower Mississippi […] Read more
Shallow Mississippi River expected to persist as dry winter hits U.S. South
River levels at historic lows this fall
U.S. winter wheat growers seed into dust as Plains drought persists
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — With seeding roughly halfway complete, the 2023 U.S. hard red winter wheat crop is already being hobbled by drought in the heart of the southern Plains, wheat experts said. Seeding plans may be scaled back in the U.S. breadbasket despite historically high prices for this time of year, reflecting rising global […] Read more
Drought-stricken B.C. bracing for floods when rains return
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — British Columbia on Thursday warned residents to prepare for flooding when rains eventually return after a prolonged drought exacerbated by climate change that has raised concerns about long-term damage to ecosystems ranging from glaciers to salmon rivers. The usually rainy western province has experienced weeks of record-breaking warm fall temperatures and minimal precipitation […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Saskatchewan’s pulse harvest seen as average
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — As the harvest in Saskatchewan wraps up for 2022, pulse specialist Dale Risula said pulse crops were quite good this year — a definite improvement over last year’s drought-stricken production. “Overall for the province we will likely see average production this year, although some areas suffered pretty badly,” Risula said. He said there […] Read more
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
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle up on demand, tightening supplies
Hogs up on technical bounce
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose on Friday in tandem with higher equities and energy markets as a robust slaughter pace and concerns about reduced cattle supplies in the coming months fueled buying. Packers have accelerated their daily slaughter pace following plant downtime around Monday’s Labour Day holiday and they […] Read more
Ending stocks tumble due to drought: StatCan
Canola stocks are below 'pipeline levels'
Reading Time: 3 minutes MarketsFarm — Severe drought in Western Canada during the summer of 2021 has played a major part in reducing the stocks for Canada’s principal field crops at the end of the 2021-22 marketing year, according to Statistics Canada. Canada’s central data agency released a report Wednesday presenting total ending stocks for the country’s major crops […] Read more
Prairies’ high-pressure ridge should give way by mid-month
Brisk harvest pace expected meanwhile
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — While there’s not one specific cause of the hot September the Canadian Prairies has generally been having so far, Weatherlogics chief scientist Scott Kehler notes one particular shorter-term factor. “There is a fairly strong upper-level ridge of high pressure across the Prairies right now,” he explained, adding it should dissipate by mid-month. The […] Read more
From Pakistan to Texas, big rains after extreme heat deliver double punch
Reading Time: 3 minutes London | Reuters — While Pakistanis count the cost of one of the country’s worst recorded floods, heavy rain is hitting southwestern China as the Texas city of Dallas recovers from a 10-inch deluge in a single day last month. Each of these rain-fuelled disasters followed a heat wave, suggesting the regions have been swinging […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn dips but still posts monthly gain
CBOT soy lower, wheat up
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures declined for a second session on Wednesday on profit-taking at the end of the month and mounting recession worries, but the market nonetheless gained eight per cent during August due to eroding U.S. and European crop prospects. Soybean futures ended lower after a back-and-forth session. But wheat turned […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
