A combine unloads wheat on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in western India on March 16, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Amit Dave)

Heat wave threatens India’s wheat output, export plans

Thin supplies, rising prices indicate lower output

Reading Time: 3 minutes New Delhi | Reuters — India’s wheat output looks likely to fall in 2022 after five consecutive years of record harvests, as a sharp, sudden rise in temperatures in mid-March cut crop yields in the world’s second-biggest producer of the grain. The drop could curb Indian exports of the staple. Cashing in on a rally […] Read more

(ThamKC/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. EPA allows temporary summer sales of higher-ethanol fuel

Waiver seen as score for corn growers

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency waiver for a higher-ethanol gasoline blend on Friday, allowing summertime sales of the fuel in an attempt to help lower gasoline prices at the pump. The move represents a temporary win for the biofuels industry and corn farmers, as it will likely […] Read more


Emerging winter wheat plants. (File photo by Laura Rance)

Not warm enough yet for accurate read on Ontario winter crops

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm –– The crop report on Wednesday from Ontario’s ministry of agriculture, food and rural affairs (OMAFRA) notes a lack of temperatures warm enough to accurately assess winter crops and/or to begin spring planting. OMAFRA determined winter wheat that was seeded on time looks healthier than what was planted later in the fall. Also, water […] Read more

File photo of a lentil crop before harvest in Saskatchewan. (Bobloblaw/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Saskatchewan growers wait for rain

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — As the snow melts on the Prairies, pulse growers are making their final preparations before seeding, while at the same time hoping not to see a repeat of last year’s historic drought. In Saskatchewan, snow cover has varied in pulse-growing areas, making some growers nervous. “There’s still a lot of concern about dryness […] Read more


A drone photo from the Sampona commune of Madagascar on Feb. 11, 2022, shows Zebu cattle drinking water from a large puddle created from Cyclone Batsirai. The island nation’s south has been experiencing severe drought for the past four years, putting it in danger of what the World Food Programme calls “the world’s first climate change famine.” (Photo: Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis)

U.N. to roll out global early-warning systems for extreme weather

Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters –– With climate change fueling dangerous weather worldwide, the United Nations is pledging that early-warning weather monitoring will cover everyone on the planet in five years. “Half of humanity is already in the danger zone,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said earlier this week. And yet, “one-third of the world’s people, mainly in […] Read more

File photo of growing corn plants. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Bayer rolling out short corn variety tolerant of weather extremes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Global farm chemicals and seeds maker Bayer will launch a corn variety in the United States next year that it says will better tolerate heavy winds associated with climate change, estimating future sales in North America as high as one billion euros. The corn, which grows one-third shorter than current varieties, will be […] Read more


Seeding in southwestern Manitoba in the spring of 2021. (Manitoba Co-operator file photo by Alexis Stockford)

Last year was world’s sixth-warmest on record, U.S. scientists say

Heat content of oceans at record level, NOAA says

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Last year ranked as the sixth-warmest year on record, causing extreme weather events around the world and adding to evidence supporting the globe’s long-term warming, according to an analysis on Thursday by two U.S. government agencies. The data compiled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA also revealed that […] Read more

Sea surface temperature anomalies over the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the week centred on Jan. 5, 2022. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

La Niña likely to continue into spring, U.S. forecaster says

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — La Nina conditions are likely to continue during the Northern Hemisphere spring, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. The La Niña weather pattern, characterized by unusually cold temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, has a 67 per cent chance of persisting from March through May this year, the National Weather Service’s […] Read more


Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius for the week centred on Dec. 29, 2021. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

La Niña introduces itself with Prairie cold snap

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The frigid conditions which had enveloped the Prairie provinces in recent weeks is a sign La Niña has come again, according to a Kansas-based meteorologist. Since mid-December, the Prairies have been in a deep freeze beginning with temperatures at least 10 C below-normal. Since the holiday season, many towns and cities in the […] Read more

Prince Rupert Grain Terminal. (Rupertport.com)

CN rerouting trains, aims to re-open line to Vancouver on weekend

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Canadian National Railway (CN) said Wednesday it was aiming to reopen its track in the crucial Kamloops-to-Vancouver corridor in flood-hit British Columbia this weekend. The Pacific province, trying to rebuild after devastating floods in November, received more rain over the weekend and this week. CN operates one of the two critical rail lines […] Read more