Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Record-setting wildfires in Canada could potentially continue burning at an abnormally high rate for several more weeks, though the spread of blazes is likely to start diminishing in September, according to federal projections released on Friday. Forest fires have engulfed parts of nearly all 13 Canadian provinces and territories this year, […] Read more
Canada’s record-setting wildfires could persist for rest of ‘marathon’ summer
Country's fires account for over a quarter of world's carbon for 2023
Prairie Forecast: Cooler and unsettled
Issued Aug. 9, covering Aug. 9 to 16
Reading Time: 3 minutes First off, I must apologize for not producing an update to the last forecast; I had the opportunity to do some backwoods camping, which meant I was off the grid for about five days. I’m back now, and from the weather model runs I’ve been able to check out, this forecast period is going to […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Average yields expected for Manitoba crops
Beans, soy may still benefit if rain comes
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Pulse crops in Manitoba fared well against the elements which included sporadic rainfall and normal to below-normal temperatures for much of the past month. Provincial pulse specialist Dennis Lange in Altona said field peas should begin harvesting operations next week. “As far as pea acres go, we’re looking at about 145,000 acres. That’s […] Read more
How El Niño threatens emerging market economies
Significant changes to rainfall, or prolonged droughts, could also impact hydropower output, boost food, fuel prices
Reading Time: 4 minutes London | Reuters – Countries around the world are battling heatwaves and floods fueled by El Niño, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that has a 90 per cent probability of persisting in the second half of 2023, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The worldwide impact can be enormous, but the stakes are higher for […] Read more
Manitoba’s crops continue to hold up
Hay yields generally below average; pasture conditions were deteriorating due to dryness
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm – Timely rains in Manitoba have kept the province’s crops in relatively good shape, according to the latest crop report. Manitoba Agriculture said precipitation as of Aug. 1 amounted to as much as 73 millimeters around Zhoda in the southeast to 13 mm at The Pas in the north. Although several locales throughout the […] Read more
Prairie forecast: Warm-hot start then slow cooldown
Issued August 2, covering August 2 to 9
Reading Time: 3 minutes The weather models have been doing a good job with the overall weather picture over the last several weeks, despite a fairly unsettled, tough-to-figure-out weather pattern. In this next forecast period, it will again be tough to figure out some of the finer details as our region experiences weak highs, lows, and even the possibility […] Read more
Hail claims in Manitoba surpass 2022
Several hailstorms struck the southwest, south-central and other areas of the province in the first part of the growing season
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Half-way into a stormy summer, hail insurance claims have already surpassed last year’s total, according to the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation. As of July 20, it had seen 1,206 hail claims. This compares to 513 at the same time in 2022. Last year saw 1,121 registered hail claims throughout the year. Why […] Read more
Saskatchewan crops a mixed bag
Some cereal crops beyond harvesting with plans to salvage for feed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Marketsfarm – There was a wide mixture of the results in the latest crop report from Saskatchewan Agriculture. Parts of the province were hobbled by drought conditions, while other areas received upwards to 40 millimetres of rain following a series of thunderstorms during the week of July 18 to 26. The desiccation of pulse crops […] Read more
CBOT weekly update: U.S. Fed decision one of many factors
Russia’s withdrawal from Black Sea Grain Initiative, attacks on Ukrainian ports have caused erratic price movement
Reading Time: 2 minutes Marketsfarm – The decision by the United States Federal Reserve on July 26 to raise its key interest rates mostly served as a distraction on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) from other events affecting grain futures. The central bank continued its efforts to wrangle inflation by pushing interest rates up 25 basis points to […] Read more
Updated prairie forecast: unsettled start as sub-arctic high builds in
Issued July 26, covers July 26 to August 2
Reading Time: 4 minutes Update: A low tracking through central prairies is a little weaker than expected. This will result in less precipitation with showers, thundershowers, and storms being less widespread. Another issue is the smoke which can be difficult to predict. Areas with smoke we see cooler than expected daytime highs. An upper ridge that brought plenty of […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
