File photo of propane tanks. (Joe_Potato/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. states declare emergencies to help farmers in propane shortage

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Regional shortages of propane, which is used for heating homes and barns and by farmers to dry their crops, have led to emergency declarations covering nine U.S. Midwest states amid late harvests of soggy grains. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin declared state emergencies beginning in late October, and continued last Friday to […] Read more

Unharvested canola under snow in October 2016. (Lisa Guenther photo)

Millions of acres of canola freeze, compound ‘harvest from hell’

Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Heavy snow and rain during harvest on the Canadian Prairies have left several million acres of canola buried until spring, the latest blow in a miserable year that may compound farmer problems into 2020. Canola is renowned as Canada’s most profitable crop, exported to China, Japan and Mexico to make vegetable […] Read more


File photo of propane tanks. (Joe_Potato/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. propane bottlenecks not affecting Canada

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Despite ongoing shortfalls of propane in some areas of the U.S. Midwest, the situation doesn’t appear to be adversely affecting Canada, according to the Canadian Propane Association. The late harvest in the Midwest has been further hampered by wet conditions, forcing farmers to dry their grain before putting it in the bin. As […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prolonged Prairie harvest pushes up grain prices

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — A seemingly never-ending harvest across the Prairies has been responsible for a $10-$15 per tonne jump this month in feed grain prices, said Glen Loyns, general manager of JGL Commodities in Moose Jaw. “It’s probably gone up $5 this week,” Loyns said. This year’s extended harvest, coupled with large amounts of grain to […] Read more


A deep storm surge that flowed during Hurricane Dorian from the Pamlico Sound back to the Atlantic Ocean swept this cow off her home range on North Carolina’s Cedar Island over to the barrier island in Cape Lookout National Seashore, where she was found in early September. (U.S. National Park Service photo by Jeff West)

Dorian swept swimming cows two miles to North Carolina beach

Reading Time: 2 minutes Cape Lookout National Seashore, N.C. | Reuters — Three cows have been spotted beachcombing on a remote barrier island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, swept to an unlikely grazing spot when Hurricane Dorian whipped waves powerful enough to carry them two miles from their home. One of the bovine bodysurfers was seen soon after the […] Read more

Vanessa Kummer checks the quality of her family farm’s 2018 soybean crops near Colfax, N.D. on Aug. 6, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Dan Koeck)

U.S. books latest end to soy harvest in a decade

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm —The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in its oilseed crops outlook issued Wednesday, said the country’s 2019 soybean harvest will wind up the latest in 10 years. As of Sunday, the overall U.S. soybean harvest stood at 85 per cent complete, according to USDA’s weekly crop progress report. The pace was two points behind […] Read more


The best advice one University of Lethbridge professor can give farmers when it comes to accounting for unpredictable weather is to be flexible.

How farmers can adapt to the new weather abnormal

The stable weather patterns of the ’80s and ’90s are gone, so we ask three climate scientists how to farm when the weather is unreliable

Reading Time: 6 minutes For many western Canadian farmers this is the fourth consecutive year with harvest progress seriously stymied by weather issues. Fall rains and snows have resulted in significant loss of crop quality and/or an increased reliance on costly drying of crops in each of those years. For some farmers, inclement weather has even resulted in crops […] Read more



Photo: File

Alberta harvest likely finished for 2019 in some regions

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm – Alberta farmers managed to make some progress despite trying conditions of cold temperatures mixed with snow and rain, including some hail, according to the province’s latest weekly crop report. For the week ended Nov. 5, approximately 88.0 per cent of all Alberta crops were in the bin. That’s up from 80.9 per cent […] Read more

An unharvested crop lies under a blanket of snow near Somerset, Man., the weekend of Nov. 2, 2019.  Photo: Alexis Stockford

Difficult Manitoba harvest nearing its end

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm – In the latest and last weekly crop report for 2019 from Manitoba Agriculture, issued Nov. 5, the overall harvest reached 89 per cent complete province-wide However, it has continued to be a very tough slog for farmers as they contend with muddy fields, in which equipment has left deep ruts. In some areas, […] Read more


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