Reading Time: 4 minutes Western grain movement to the Port of Vancouver was at 60 per cent of normal as of Dec. 15 and is expected to continually improve, Mark Hemmes, Canada’s grain monitor and president of Quorum Corp. said in an interview Wednesday. “I think by next week it’s going to look a lot better,” he said. “Is […] Read more
Grain movement to Vancouver picking up
Railways seen recovering from B.C. damages faster than many had expected
U.S. tornadoes destroy chickens, tractors, silos
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A Deere dealership and a Pilgrim’s Pride chicken hatchery were destroyed when deadly tornadoes swept through Kentucky on Friday, while silos holding millions of bushels of corn suffered damage, the companies and the state’s agriculture commissioner said on Monday. At least 64 people, including six children, lost their lives in Kentucky […] Read more
Precipitation eases drought conditions on Prairies
Hardest-hit Manitoba sees 'modest' improvements
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Varied amounts of precipitation are either maintaining or alleviating drought conditions in much of the Prairies, according to the latest nationwide drought map from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM). The latest assessment for the period ended Nov. 30 showed very few areas of worsening drought in the region with […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat futures drop on weather view
CBOT corn, soybean futures rise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade winter wheat futures fell 1.7 per cent on Wednesday as forecasts for mild temperatures and some rain in key growing areas raised hopes that the crop will be in good condition before it heads into dormancy, traders said. “U.S. weather for wheat looks pretty good,” said Terry […] Read more
CN again reopens Kamloops-Vancouver corridor
'Quite a bit' of traffic shifted to Prince Rupert
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — After recent heavy rains forced Canadian National Railway to close its Kamloops-to-Vancouver corridor for a second time, the railway reopened its critical line to Canada’s busiest port on Sunday. CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis said the corridor was initially closed a second time during the most recent spell of heavy rains in southwestern British […] Read more
Canola declines, durum drops in new StatsCan estimates
Soybean, oats estimates raised
Reading Time: 3 minutes MarketsFarm — There were very few surprises in Statistics Canada’s latest principal field crop production estimates released Friday — the first in 2021-22 to use a survey of producers. Nevertheless, they quantified just how severe last summer’s drought was in Western Canada. Canola production for the 2021-22 marketing year was estimated to be 12.595 million […] Read more
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
British Columbia braces for more heavy rain
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — British Columbia is facing more heavy rains as the province tries to recover from massive floods and mudslides, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth told reporters on Tuesday. Farnworth said crews were working to shore up dikes and dams, adding some roads would be closed protectively. Flooding over Nov. 14-16 in Canada’s […] Read more
Prairie winter weather a sign of La Nina repeat
Full effects won't be seen for a while yet
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — December marks the start of what meteorologists call “meteorological winter” — and this winter, the Pacific Ocean phenomenon known as La Nina may be rearing its head once again. La Nina (Spanish for “little girl”) is a climate pattern detected over the Pacific every few years where cooler water pools at the equator […] Read more
B.C. extends fuel restrictions following flooding
Agricultural and farm-use vehicles exempted as 'essential'
Reading Time: 1 minute Reuters — Government officials in British Columbia on Monday extended restrictions on the use of fuel by residents, saying it was needed for emergency vehicles as the region recovers from devastating floods. The order, first issued on Nov. 19, limits vehicles deemed “non-essential” by the government to 30 litres of gasoline or diesel fuel per […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
