Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers and ranchers in northwestern Saskatchewan received much-needed rain late last week and over the weekend. Tom Brown raises cattle and is a crop reporter for Saskatchewan Agriculture and the reeve for the Rural Municipality of Mervin. His farm at Turtleford, about 80 km east of Lloydminster, received 11 mm of rain on Thursday night, […] Read more
Guenther: Rain drops in on NW Sask.
Rain sprinkles Prairie canola fields, pastures
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Light rains sprinkled Western Canada’s crops and pastures during the weekend, but amounts fell well short of what’s needed to remedy dry conditions that have stunted growth, analysts said Monday. Rains were scattered across the Prairies and similar light amounts are expected during the next two weeks, Commodity Weather Group said […] Read more
Prairies’ forage a tale of mixed moisture levels
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Forage crops in Saskatchewan and Alberta are badly in need of rain, while alfalfa is already being cut in Manitoba, a testament to the difference in moisture levels across Western Canada. The majority of the snow in Alberta was gone by the end of March, according to the chairwoman of the Alberta […] Read more
Dry areas of Prairies still waiting for rain
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– The continued lack of moisture across a large portion of Alberta and Saskatchewan is becoming more of a concern for farmers in the region, but there is a chance of rain in some nearby forecasts. Shannon Friesen, a cropping management specialist for Saskatchewan Agriculture in Moose Jaw, said some livestock producers are […] Read more
Light rain on way for Prairie crops, but ‘soaker’ needed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters –– Rain looks to splash parched farms on Western Canada’s Prairies over the next week as concerns mount that soil is too dry for canola to grow normally. Offsetting the concern somewhat is the region’s brisk pace of planting, which may wrap up by the weekend. The southern Prairies will be lucky […] Read more
Dry Prairies await timely rains
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Mounting dryness concerns in parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan are raising some concerns over crop development on the Prairies — but timely rains are in the forecast for early June. “The entire southern Prairie region hasn’t received normal rainfall for the last month to two months,” said Trevor Hadwen, an agro-climate specialist […] Read more
El Nino seen bringing drought to Brazil’s north, heavy rains to south
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Brazil will likely experience a moderate El Nino by the end of the year, bringing steady rain to the country’s main grain-producing regions and sustained drought in the arid north, the national meteorological institute, Inmet, said. Inmet meteorologist Fabricio Daniel dos Santos Silva said six consecutive quarters of warming sea […] Read more
U.S. sees El Nino as near-certain to last through summer
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — The El Nino climate phenomenon is almost certain to last through the Northern Hemisphere summer, the U.S. weather forecaster said, raising the chance of heavy rain in the southern U.S. as well as South America, and scorching heat in Asia that could devastate crops of thirsty food staples like rice. […] Read more
Snow job
First it was record rainfall last fall. Then it was near-record snow. What’s next?
Reading Time: 7 minutes When it comes to spring planting, the one thing that keeps farmers well-grounded is the weather. They can plan their seed choice, lay out a timetable and know how they’d like things to happen — but in the end it’s nature that holds the final say. Farmers will start planting only when the conditions allow. […] Read more