Reading Time: 2 minutes Wellington | Reuters — New Zealand has declared a drought in parts of the country’s South Island, offering financial assistance and tax relief to farmers after dry conditions have cut dairy production and increased sheep and beef slaughter rates. The government on Thursday said medium-scale drought conditions were affecting the east coast of the South […] Read more
New Zealand declares partial drought, offers farm assistance
‘River of rain’ begins falling on drought-stricken California
Reading Time: 2 minutes Los Angeles | Reuters — A so-called “atmospheric river of rain” began falling on northern California on Friday, bringing worries about flash floods, high winds and mudslides but offering little relief to a state left parched by several years of drought. The storm, also known as a “Pineapple Express” because it results from a ribbon […] Read more
Tax deferrals kick in for soaked and parched West
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ranchers under pressure from this year’s drought in B.C. and northwestern Alberta and excess moisture in western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan may get income tax deferrals for their trouble. The federal government on Tuesday released its first list of designated areas for 2014, within which eligible producers who sold breeding livestock may be allowed to […] Read more
Major storm hits drought-stricken California
Reading Time: 2 minutes San Francisco | Reuters — A Pacific storm lashed drought-parched northern and central California on Thursday with heavy rain and high winds, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes, disrupting flights, washing out roads and prompting school closures in the Bay Area. Nearly 240 departing and incoming commercial flights had been canceled at […] Read more
More rain on the way for California, but drought may not be over
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sacramento | Reuters — This week’s California storms dumped up to 7.6 cm of rain on the parched state and more wet weather is on the way, but it is too soon to know whether there will be enough precipitation this winter to remedy three years of drought, forecasters said. Although the sun came out […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
