“What we’re trying to do here with these types of studies is to do some valuation of the grasslands.” – Marcos Cordeiro, University of Manitoba.

Using forage crops to fight flooding

Modelling study puts long-term numbers on forage’s flood prevention role

Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Planting more forage would be valuable for flood control, and new research has numbers to back that up. “We knew this from the start,” said Marcos Cordeiro, study lead and assistant professor of animal science at the University of Manitoba. Previous research, such as a study based in Saskatchewan in 2003, had already […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Saskatchewan drainage work rebates expanded to farmers

Channel clearing, drain maintenance program shares eligible costs

Reading Time: 2 minutes A program to help rural Saskatchewan municipalities and local authorities cover costs of channel clearing and maintaining drains for flood prevention will now expand to include individual landowners. The province’s Water Security Agency (WSA) said Friday its $1 million cost-share rebate program will expand its eligibility beyond RMs, conservation and development area (C+D) authorities and […] Read more

Photo: File

Rain, drought highlight different growing areas

Eastern Prairies to see improved rains

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Depending on which region you’re in, you could be stuck in a severe drought or facing rains that will help alleviate that dryness or push back when fields should be dry enough to begin spring planting. That’s the assessment from Drew Lerner, president and senior agricultural meteorologist at World Weather Inc. at Overland […] Read more


A smoke column rises from a wildfire on May 4, 2023 near Lodgepole, Alta., about 30 km southwest of Drayton Valley. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire handout via Reuters)

Fire and floods across Western Canada force evacuations

Western Alberta towns of Edson, Drayton Valley ordered to evacuate

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A week of record-hot weather in Western Canada has forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes, as wildfires rage in parts of Alberta and rapid snow melt triggers flooding across interior British Columbia. By Friday, more than 13,000 people were under evacuation orders in Alberta. As of late Friday afternoon, 91 fires […] Read more

A submerged and abandoned car is seen in floodwaters near a vineyard after winter storms at Forestville, California on Jan. 13, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

California rainstorms fade as death toll reaches 20

Drought to remain an issue for much of state

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The parade of atmospheric rivers that pounded California for three weeks finally faded on Monday, enabling the state to begin lengthy repairs to roads and levees as the White House announced U.S. President Joe Biden planned to survey the damage. The nine consecutive rainstorms that inundated California in succession since Dec. 26 killed […] Read more


Flooding from the Salinas River forces the closure of a road at Salinas, California on Jan. 12, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Nathan Frandino)

California picks up debris from latest storm, braces for next

Also: Why all this rain won't end California's drought

Reading Time: 4 minutes Sacramento | Reuters — Rain-soaked Californians took advantage of a break in a weeks-long deluge to haul away dead trees, restore downed power lines and prepare new stacks of sandbags before another series of storms hits the state beginning Friday. In Monterey County along the state’s central coast, communities near the still-rising Salinas River were […] Read more

pakistan flood

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