First, was the tornado outbreak over the United States a couple of weeks ago, and in particular, a F3 tornado that went through Michigan and actually crossed an ice-covered lake where it appears to pull up ice. If you haven’t seen the video, I would highly recommend taking a look.

The second item has been the record-shattering heat over a good chunk of the western and central U.S. I don’t have room to go into all the details, but a heat dome brought record temperatures for March to many locations with some of them seeing temperatures that would have broken April all-time records. With persistent arctic high pressure to our north, these extreme temperatures have been kept south of the border, but southern Minnesota did see a record high of 31 C.

Last on our list is an article that came out indicating that there is a good chance we will see the development of El Nino conditions across the Pacific later this year and it could be a very strong El Nino. We will look at that topic in April.

OK, now on to our main topic.

In our last article we looked at the composition of the atmosphere, breaking it down into a heterosphere and homosphere. Then we looked at the atmosphere from a temperature point of view and proceeded to break it down into four regions or layers — the thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere. We finished off by saying that one of these layers is responsible for most, if not all, of our weather. So, in this issue we will get back on track and extend our understanding of weather and the atmosphere by beginning our look at the atmosphere and surface energy balances.

To begin to understand how solar energy is spent as it reaches the Earth’s surface, and thus understand our surface energy budget, we need to look at the pathways in which solar energy can travel once it reaches the Earth’s surface.

Where the rays go

Earth receives energy from the Sun in the form of shortwave radiation. When this energy is turned into heat, it takes on the form of long-wave radiation. A good portion of both of these types of radiation passes through our atmosphere in the process known as transmission. When we are looking at shortwave radiation reaching the Earth’s surface, we call it insolation, and it is this insolation that is the driving force behind all of our weather.

Insolation is comprised of shortwave radiation that is transmitted directly to the ground, along with diffused or scattered radiation (indirect radiation). As shortwave radiation travels through our atmosphere some of it interacts with gas, dust, pollutants, water droplets and water vapour, changing the direction of the shortwave radiation — or scattering it. This scattering is what causes the sky to be blue during the day and why sunsets and sunrises take on a reddish hue.

The principle behind why we see these colours is known as Rayleigh scattering; named after the English physicist Lord Rayleigh, who came up this principle back in 1881. The principle relates wavelength to the size of the particles that are causing the scattering.

The general rule is: the shorter the wavelength, the greater the scattering; the longer the wavelength, the less the scattering.

Small gas molecules will scatter shorter wavelengths (remember with visible light, blues and violets have the shortest wavelengths, while oranges and reds have the longest wavelengths). So, since short waves are scattered the most and the molecules in our atmosphere scatter short waves, we end up having the lower atmosphere dominated by scattered blue waves.

At sunrise and sunset, the angle of the Sun is such that the insolation has to travel through much more atmosphere than during the day. The short blue wave lengths are still scattered, but now they encounter so much scattering only the longer orange and red wave lengths are left to reach our eyes — so we tend to see these colours.

Action and refraction

Another thing that happens to shortwave radiation as it enters the atmosphere is that it refracts. Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one medium to the next. In this case, it is passing from the virtual vacuum of space to our dense atmosphere.

We have all seen examples of refraction. Rainbows are created when light passes through dense water drops causing the different wavelengths of light to refract at different rates. Mirages are another example of refraction. Most of us have experienced mirages on warm days along a highway when you stare down the highway and see what appears to be something floating above the road. In this case, it is the hot air above the highway that causes the light to be refracted.

One interesting note about refraction is that without it, the amount of daylight we receive would be about eight minutes less each day. When the sun sets or rises, the light refracts as it passes from space into our atmosphere. This refraction allows us to “see” the Sun when it is actually below the horizon. In the morning we see the sun rise four minutes before it actually moves above the horizon and at sunset we continue to see the Sun for four minutes after it has actually dropped below the horizon.

Next we will take a break from learning about the weather and take a look back at our extended winter to see how the numbers stacked up.

The post Why is the sky blue? appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

On March 22, the federal government announced it would develop such a strategy, calling it “an opportunity to discuss how we can address freshwater-related threats and opportunities,” protect freshwater ecosystems, and secure water for communities and the economy, according to a news release.

The Canada Water Agency, which was repurposed in 2024 as a stand-alone freshwater management agency separate from Environment and Climate Change Canada, will spearhead the strategy’s development.

While the announcement was scant on details of what such a strategy might look like, it said the agency will work with provinces and territories, First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners, “stakeholders across sectors” and the public.

Farmers should be among those consulted, the CFA said in a statement to Glacier FarmMedia.

“Water security is absolutely critical for the future of Canadian farmers. Farmers in different regions of Canada have been devastated by water issues over the past few years, such as the floods in B.C., or the ongoing long-term drought in the Prairie provinces,” a federation spokesperson said.

“A lack of water has severe negative impacts on any type of farm, no matter what they grow or raise.”

Prioritizing food security, agriculture

The strategy should protect farmers and mitigate the effects of water-related events. It should also secure predictable access to water so farmers can maintain food production — for example, through effective water management policies and investment in water infrastructure, CFA said.

“Farmers need to make it clear that food security and agriculture production should be prioritized if there was any issues with access to water.”

“Farmers are also on the front-line of climate change, dealing with the on-ground realities of water-related events,” CFA added. “They have experience and knowledge that will be critical in developing this strategy.”

While the announcement made no specific mention of the agriculture industry, the sector will have an opportunity to share its views during the public engagement process, “recognizing that freshwater is fundamental to our economy, powering industries, agriculture, and the growth of communities,” a federal spokesperson told Glacier FarmMedia.

The federal government has not yet set timelines for consultations, but said those will be announced “in the coming months.”

The post Get farmers in on federal water security strategy planning, CFA says appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

From heat that pushed cities to their limits, to fire seasons that refused to end, to water arriving all at once or not at all, the planet delivered a steady stream of reminders about how quickly conditions can shift. What we are going to look at is a broad, worldwide view at some of the major weather themes of 2025.

Tinderbox conditions

Persistent heat was the headline almost everywhere. Long, unbroken stretches of high temperatures settled across Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and parts of North America. It seemed like summer arrived early, stayed late, and left little room for relief.

In several regions, temperatures climbed high enough that energy grids were stressed, and outdoor workers were pushed to their limits. What stood out wasn’t just the intensity of the heat, but how far it reached. Places accustomed to heat struggled just as much as regions that normally expect a break between hot spells. The message was simple: extreme heat is becoming a fixture, not a visitor.

Several major fire zones flared up early, and many burned long past their traditional endpoints. Canada and parts of Europe found themselves once again under thick smoke as sprawling fires worked their way through forests dried out by months of below-average rainfall.

Fire crews often battled a combination of high winds and low humidity, making suppression difficult. Smoke travelled thousands of kilometres, dimming skies far from the fires’ origin. At one point, Americans were getting mad at us for sending smoke their way.

Rain, rain, go away

On the opposite end of the spectrum, several countries had to navigate severe flooding. Monsoon rains in parts of South Asia were stronger than usual, pushing rivers into surrounding farmland and communities. Elsewhere, short-lived but powerful storm systems triggered flash floods that swept through urban corridors and mountain valleys. Some areas spent part of the year in deep drought and later dealt with swollen waterways.

These quick swings highlighted how modern flood risk increasingly depends on short-duration extremes rather than just long seasonal trends.

Tropical cyclone activity in 2025 delivered more intensity than volume. Some basins came in near or even a touch below their usual storm counts, yet the systems that did develop really packed a punch.

In the Atlantic, the season finished with 13 named storms and five hurricanes, and an impressive four of those reached major-hurricane strength. The standout was Hurricane Melissa, a powerful Category 5 that tore across Jamaica late in the season, and was the strongest tropical cyclone anywhere in the world in 2025.

Melting away

Farther north, the Arctic continued down its long-term trajectory of ice loss. Winter’s peak ice coverage set yet another record low, and by the end of summer, the melt season had carved out one of the smallest minimums. With less ice comes warmer water, which means more open ocean for weather systems to draw energy from, this in turn results in subtle but meaningful bends in the jet stream, which eventually impacts our weather in ways we are just trying to figure out.

Northern communities felt the effects of the ice loss firsthand, with eroding shorelines, and shifting wildlife habits.

Human impact

Another issue that impacted the planet was air quality, with smoke, dust, heat and industrial pollution dragging it down. Cities on multiple continents issued repeated advisories, asking residents to limit outdoor activity when possible. Even regions far from wildfire zones experienced haze from distant burns. The growing overlap between heat waves and poor air quality emerged as one of the more troubling health storylines this year.

One of the new sciences that started to get recognized in 2025 was the rapid event-attribution groups. This is a science that analyze major heat and rainfall extremes to determine how much human-driven warming influenced them. Several high-profile studies concluded that some of the year’s worst episodes would have been far less likely in a cooler world. These findings added scientific weight to what many people already sensed: the background climate is shifting, and that shift is shaping the extremes we see.

Wild weather year

Taken together, the weather stories of 2025 paint a picture of a planet adjusting to a new rhythm, one marked by sharper extremes, quicker transitions and narrower margins. Heat waves that would have once been once-in-a-generation events are showing up every few years. Fire seasons behave less like defined “seasons” and more like extended periods of risk. Water arrives suddenly or not at all.

I once used an analogy of a blender. When you turn the blender on, the pattern remains fairly constant until you hit the next power level. Everything then jumps and becomes chaotic, eventually a new different pattern then emerges. I think we are starting to hit the next power level jump, we are seeing the chaotic weather patterns developing.

The question is, how long until a new stable pattern develops, and just what will be that pattern?

While the hope is always for a quieter year ahead, the lessons of 2025 will carry forward: awareness matters, preparation matters, and the stories we track now will help shape how we respond to whatever unfolds next.

The post YEAR IN REVIEW: 2025 a year of weather extremes appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Ellis, 38, a fourth-generation farmer in Wawanesa, Manitoba, credits investments in pricey systems including minimum and zero-till farming which help protect soil; tile drainage, an underground system to prevent flooding; slow-release fertilizer pellets which are more effective, and advice from a professional agronomist on weedkillers.

“We are constantly making little tweaks,” he said. “That’s how we’re going to be able to keep fighting the changing climate.”

Across much of western Canada, farmers like Ellis have been turning out strikingly better crops despite hotter and drier conditions — far above what farmers in the region could have expected in better conditions years ago, according to Canadian government data, thanks in part to widespread embrace of climate adaptation strategies.

While greater yields in Canada and elsewhere are depressing global prices for grains, they are keeping many farmers in business.

Record harvests despite drought

Adaptation practices – which tend to be costly and require cutting edge technologies – have enabled many farmers to ride out a drought that began in 2020.

Earlier this month, the Canadian government announced record harvests of spring wheat and canola for 2025. And because most of the grains produced in Canada are shipped and consumed abroad, those gains have major implications for the rest of the world’s ability to feed itself affordably.

Australia, another large global grain exporter, has also reported rising crop yields despite drier conditions.

This combination of methods and technology is not just helping Canadian growers keep up with climate change, but stay ahead of its ravages, according to interviews with 25 farmers, scientists and agriculture industry leaders, and a review of more than a dozen academic papers.

Spring wheat, used to make high-quality bread, yielded 58.8 bushels per acre this year, according to the government data release. That’s a gain of 77 per cent from 30 years ago, based on a three-year average. Canola yields nearly doubled, reaching 44.7 bushels per acre, also based on a 1994-1996 average.

While most climate science paints a bleak picture for global food supply, with a study in Nature this year forecasting up to 40 per cent reduction in North America’s wheat harvest by 2100, the agricultural experts Reuters interviewed said that with climate adaptation strategies the Prairies can continue to produce bigger and bigger crops in the future.

“Back in the day, 30, 35 bushels an acre (for wheat) would have been a bumper crop,” said Rob Saik, a Canadian agronomist who has consulted with governments all over the world. “Now it’s an abject failure.”

A notoriously difficult region

Even before climate change brought more unpredictable and extreme weather, western Canada was a notoriously difficult region to farm.

The central Prairies, a land of green and golden short grasses and thin, scrubby brush, get only about half as much rainfall as Iowa, and have a much shorter growing season. Climate change has made it even harder. Environment and Climate Change Canada says the country is warming at double the global average and that extreme events have become more common. On the Prairies, annual snowfall, a key source of spring moisture, has declined and summer extremes of rain and drought have increased, with rain often coming in enormous torrents, or not at all.

“Extreme events, like floods, heatwaves, wildfires, and severe storms, are increasingly damaging to our economy, ecosystems and built environment,” the federal department said in a 2024 report.

Incremental gains, not miracles

Scientists and agronomists say Canada’s gains don’t come from a single, dramatic factor, but from steady, incremental progress with farming methods and inputs.

Many seeds now come stacked with insect, disease and weed resistance, thanks to conventional breeding as well as genetic modification. Fertilizer application is designed to minimize disturbance to the soil surface by being placed at the same time as the seed goes in.

Fungicides, weedkillers and nutrients allow crops to outcompete their natural enemies.

Some of the strategies recall pre-industrial practices, such as intercropping, growing multiple crops at the same time.

Experts also credit automation such as self-guiding tractors that apply fertilizer at different rates based on soil tests and satellite mapping.

One family’s adaptation evolution

The Mowbray family ventured into adaptive practices four decades ago with tile drainage, laying a small stretch of perforated pipe designed to take the water down into the soil rather than spread it across the surface.

Over the last 12 years, Scott Mowbray, 46, has expanded the drainage system to about 800 acres of his land.

Meanwhile, the Mowbrays gradually took up minimum till. By 2010, the 2,000-acre farm was entirely no-till, leaving the soil unplowed and with stubble standing as a moisture trap and a barrier against the wind that otherwise carries the topsoil away.

The innovations allow the Mowbrays to “pull off yields twice what we used to with half as much rain,” Mowbray said, producing “incredible” volumes of spring wheat, peas and rye.

Technology’s steep price tag

Much of what has allowed Canadian farmers to deal with climate change involves expensive and complex equipment. A smart combine costs upwards of $1 million. A high-speed-data-enabled tractor and seeding drill cost around $2 million.

Kip Eideberg, senior vice president of government and industry relations for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which represents John Deere DE , Case New Holland CNH and other manufacturers, said precision systems have saved Canadian farmers nine per cent in herbicide and pesticides, six per cent in fuel, and four per cent in water use. That saves money for farmers operating on razor-thin margins, he said.

Most large-scale farmers have access to such technology in their tractors, combines, sprayers and management computers, Terry Griffin, a Kansas State University agricultural economist, said. But an older generation of farmers often doesn’t want to take on digital challenges, while younger farmers don’t have the money for machines or agronomic advice.

One obstacle to greater adoption is rural broadband access. Mowbray can’t count on being able to run a constant stream of data from his big farm machines. He can’t even call his farmhouse from his cellphone. His farm relies on two-way radios instead.

“It’s a simple thing but hugely important when you are in the field and might need a pick-up but can’t get a call through to the house,” he said.

Seed science – the invisible factor

Another equally important factor for farmers’ gains: breeding genetically superior crops that are hardier, drought-tolerant and produce bigger yields.

“We’re just starting down that path,” said Rick Mitzel, CEO of farmer-and-industry-funded mustard seed development organization Mustard 21. The company is developing drought-tolerant plants as an alternative to canola. The varieties “come out of the ground quicker, develop roots quicker, get leafing faster,” Mitzel told Reuters in an interview.

The farmer-controlled South East Research Farm in Redvers, Saskatchewan has been testing crops such as camelina, which is most likely to be planted in Canada for sustainable aviation fuel, that could offer farmers better yields and more resilience.

Executive director Lana Shaw doesn’t think climate change will happen without losses to the Canadian farm community. Some farmers will choose to not adapt and will simply retire. Some will adapt and fail. And some farmers will adapt and thrive.

“Under pressure,” she said, “they can adapt very fast.”

The post How Canada’s farmers are producing record crops despite droughts and floods appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The biggest beneficiaries in Western Canada were coastal and western British Columbia, the northern Prairies and southern Manitoba.

Most of the Prairies received normal to above normal precipitation as the result of several large storm events. Northeastern Alberta, central Manitoba and eastern Manitoba all recorded more than twice the normal October rainfall.

WHY IT MATTERS: Drought monitors allow for long-term analysis of moisture conditions in Canada and enables long-term planning and research for agricultural producers.

Coastal British Columbia continued to receive well above normal precipitation through October, resulting in improved soil moisture, stream flow and surface water supplies. Drought status was ended for all regions on Vancouver Island as well as the Lower Mainland, the coastal mountains and the Sunshine Coast.

“The southern portion of the province also saw some significant improvement, resulting in the removal of the severe drought category from the southern interior, including Merritt, Hope and through Grand Forks and Trail,” Trevor Hadwen, agroclimate specialist with Agriculture Canada, said in his Canadian Drought Monitor Report.

In southern Manitoba, the area has seen a windfall of significant drought improvement through the last two months, with much of the southern part of the province receiving 150 per cent of normal precipitation and eastern areas receiving more than 200 per cent of normal precipitation in October.

“This has recharged soil moisture and surface water supplies,” said Hadwen.

Nevertheless, many regions of the country continued to see below normal precipitation, resulting in sustained or even increasing drought severity.

British Columbia’s central interior continued to see well below normal precipitation, resulting in a slight expansion of extreme drought conditions in a region from Burns Lake to Williams Lake.

“The multi-year drought in this region has resulted in severe surface water shortages, well below normal stream flow and reduced groundwater availability. Water restrictions remain in place for many municipalities throughout this region,” said Hadwen, despite a burst of normal to above normal precipitation in northeastern B.C.

The southern Prairies and west-central Alberta both received less than 40 per cent of normal precipitation, resulting in continued drought development. Some regions in the area received less than five millimetres of precipitation throughout October.

“This has led to the expansion of severe and extreme drought conditions in the central region of Alberta and the expansion of the abnormally dry and modern drought conditions in the south,” said Hadwen.

Unusually warm weather persisted over much of the Prairies, with several locations recording temperatures above 20 C during the last week of October. Above normal temperatures increased water loss through evaporation and worsened drought conditions in already dry regions.

West-central and southern Alberta continue to receive below normal precipitation, increasing the severity of drought conditions heading into the winter.

“A large pocket of extreme drought conditions (B3) has developed between Calgary and Edmonton, based on exceptionally low precipitation this fall and increasing dryness and water concerns,” said Hadwen.

“October is the second consecutive month of precipitation being below 40 per cent of normal throughout this region. Southwestern and central Saskatchewan have received below normal precipitation through October and has now seen the expansion of abnormally dry classification.”

For more information on the latest and past drought analysis, visit www.agr.gc.ca/drought.

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“We find ourselves in the unique situation where all provinces and territories assessed include extreme drought, with exceptional drought showing up in northern British Columbia, Alberta, as well as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,” said Trevor Hadwen, agroclimate specialist for Agriculture Canada in the September Drought Monitor report.

“It is uncommon to have entire provinces or entire regions covered by drought. However, that is the case with Atlantic Canada (in September). All regions in all four provinces are classified as moderate to exceptional drought.”

Coastal B.C. received above normal precipitation through September, resulting in improved soil moisture, stream flow, surface water supplies and overall improved drought conditions.

Eastern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba received above normal precipitation to go along with more seasonable temperatures.

The precipitation increased in a portion of southeastern Saskatchewan and parts of southwestern Manitoba, which received 200 per cent above normal precipitation for the month through localized storm activity.

“These conditions resulted in significant drought improvement as moisture, surface water supplies and stream flows returned to levels that we would normally expect for this time of year,” said Hadwen.

It marks a stark contrast form the rest of the western part of the country,where the Okanagan Valley in B.C. received only 5.9 per cent of its normal precipitation. A new extreme drought pocket emerged in the southern Thompson Okanagan region, where extremely high temperatures and well-below normal precipitation over July through September through the central region resulted in an expansion of extreme dry conditions that have led to concerns for water supplies for several regions throughout the province, including Dawson Creek.

“They’ve entered Stage Three conservation measures, and officials have warned the reservoir only contains 150 days of water supply,” said Hadwen.

Nearly all of Alberta and western Saskatchewan received less than 25 per cent of normal precipitation, with temperatures four to five degrees above normal for September. Below 10 per cent of normal monthly precipitation was recorded in Banff, Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Lloydminster.

“Although precipitation is typically low during the fall season, September represents the beginning of the moisture recharge period. Moisture during this fall period, prior to freeze-up, provides opportunity for perennial crops to begin to recover and prepare for the winter season,” said Hadwen.

With the dry conditions through August and September, southern Alberta saw the return of moderate drought conditions. Central and northern regions of the province continued to see increased drought due to warm, dry conditions.

There was an expansion of severe and extreme drought through northern regions of the province, including two additional regions of exceptional drought in the Peace River District, northern.

Regions of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were more stable in September, but some regions saw worsening drought conditions.

The general warmer and drier conditions through the Prairie region helped advance harvest, but producers were hoping for significant rainfall before freeze-up to help replenish soil moisture and provide relief from the ongoing drought conditions.

Environment Canada’s long-term forecast from October through December shows a high probability of above normal temperatures in Eastern Canada with less confidence in Western Canada. There are some regions in Western Canada, including British Columbia, where the forecast is pointing to above normal precipitation.

“The general warmer and drier conditions through the Prairie region have helped advance harvest,” Hadwen said.

“However, producers are hoping for some significant rainfall before freeze up to help replenish soil moisture and provide some relief from the ongoing drought conditions.”

For information on the latest and past drought analysis, visit www.agr.gc.ca.

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“Climate change is bringing more severe and longer-lasting droughts to many locations around the world. Some ecosystems have shown resilience to increasing drought, but this could change as droughts become more severe,” said the study.

The research showed that losses in plant productivity — the creation of new organic matter through photosynthesis — were more than twice as high after four years of continued extreme drought when compared to losses from droughts of moderate intensity. Grassland and shrubland ecosystems especially lose their ability to recover over time under prolonged dry conditions.

“We show that — when combined — extreme, multi-year droughts have even more profound effects than a single year of extreme drought or multi-year moderate droughts,” said Colorado State University biology professor Melinda Smith, who led the study with Timothy Ohlert, a former CSU postdoctoral researcher.

“The Dust Bowl is a good example of this,” said Smith in a news release on the study. “Although it spanned nearly a decade it was only when there were consecutive extremely dry years that those effects, such as soil erosion and dust storms, occurred. Now with our changing climate, Dust Bowl-type droughts are expected to occur more frequently.”

Smith designed and led the International Drought Experiment with more than 170 researchers around the world. For the project, researchers built rainfall manipulation structures that reduced each rainfall event by a target amount over a four-year period in grassland and shrubland ecosystems across six continents.

By simulating 1-in-100-year extreme drought conditions, the team was able to study the long- and short-term effects on grasslands and shrublands, which store more than 30 per cent of global carbon and support key industries, such as livestock production. Variations in precipitation, as well as soil and vegetation across continents, meant different sites experienced different combinations of moderate and extreme drought years — providing unique experimental conditions that informed the study.

The research also suggests that the negative impacts on plant productivity are likely to be much larger than previously expected under both extreme and prolonged drought conditions.

The post Prolonged drought causes unprecedented productivity loss: Study appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The welcome rain improved soil moisture, water supplies and growing conditions.

“During the year, we saw extremely dry conditions in both southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, leading to some regions declaring agricultural disasters fairly early this season. Those regions that are under agriculture disaster have improved significantly in southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta,” Trevor Hadwen, an agri-climate specialist with Agriculture Canada, said in his latest drought monitor report.

“Those regions have received significant moisture throughout the summer and improvement to areas that are just at a moderate drought condition. Most of that region has seen tremendous amounts of rain fall throughout July and August and really improved the soil moisture. That’s not to say the agricultural crops have improved. The damage was done in June for most of those agricultural crops. Certainly yields will still be very low throughout many of those regions.”

However, the increased precipitation, which also included southern Manitoba, didn’t move the needle in overall Prairie drought conditions, considering how dry it has been in the northern parts of the region.

“We’re seeing very dry conditions continue through the Peace River region of Alberta, some very dry conditions through northern Saskatchewan as well as much of Manitoba, (which) is seeing extremely dry conditions. This last month, we are seeing a continuation of large pockets of exception or extreme drought conditions, especially in the Interlake area of Manitoba,” said Hadwen.

August’s moisture provided welcome relief, but the long-term drought is still affecting water supplies, feed availability and pastures and likely won’t be beneficial until next spring.

Moving further west into British Columbia, August precipitation has been a mixed bag, resulting in both improvement and degradation of drought conditions.

The province has seen really dry conditions through central and south-central pockets of the province, with some improvement along the coast and northern regions.

“The biggest agricultural concerns at this point are for feed and feed availability and hay production. Much of the region is still seeing very dry conditions through the post production regions, and we’re seeing lower-than-normal production of feed and hay supplies,” said Hadwen.

“For the livestock industry, we’re expecting some shortages and some challenges with feed availability, as well as the hay that is required for the livestock industry. In terms of the traditional crops and some of the horticultural crops, we’re seeing less impact there. The fruit crops have had a fairly good year.”

Environment and Climate Change models indicate warmer than normal conditions right across the entire country for the fall period, especially throughout southern and coastal B.C. and parts of Atlantic Canada.

Along with the warmer temperatures, normal precipitation is expected for B.C. and southern Alberta.

“However, the warmer-than-normal conditions might lead to less snowpack earlier in the fall and result in concerns for drought for next spring,” said Hadwen.

For more information, visit www.agr.gc.ca/drought.

The post August rain welcome, but offered limited relief appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“Canada’s new government is committed to supporting our livestock producers,” said Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald in a news release.

Livestock Tax Deferral allows producers in prescribed areas to defer a portion of their income from sales until the next tax year if they are forced to sell at least 15 per cent of their breeding herd due to drought.

“Buffer zones” have been added to capture producers who are not in the prescribed zones but who may be experiencing similar adverse conditions.

“Weather, climate and production data from across Canada will continue to be monitored throughout the remainder of the season and regions will be added to the list when they meet the criteria,” the federal government said.

At the end of July, 71 per cent of the country was classified as abnormally dry or experiencing moderate to extreme drought according to Agriculture Agri-Food Canada data.

In the Pacific region, 91 per cent of agricultural land was classified as abnormally dry or experiencing moderate to extreme drought. In the Prairie provinces, 81 per cent of the agricultural landscape was considered abnormally dry or in moderate to extreme drought.

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The adjustment, made by Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, is designed to help producers salvage poor-quality crops for livestock feed, which will, in turn, help reduce feed-related costs.

Many regions of the province have experienced prolonged dry and hot weather, and a number of municipalities have declared agricultural disasters this summer.

“The impact of ongoing dry conditions in some regions of the province is concerning for Alberta’s agricultural community. This adjustment lets producers act swiftly to salvage crops for livestock feed, rather than watch their fields deteriorate further and risk harvesting nothing,” said RJ Sigurdson, Alberta’s agriculture and irrigation minister, in a press release.

The change to low yield allowance means that if that appraised yield falls below the established threshold level, AFSC can reduce the appraisal to zero, based on information gathered by an adjuster during inspection.

The allowance adjustment, effective for 2025 only, “enables producers to act swiftly to salvage crops for livestock feed rather than watch their fields deteriorate further, and risk harvesting nothing,” Jesse Cole, an insurance products and product innovation manager with AFSC, said in a separate release.

In other words, AFSC said, the threshold values are meant to reflect the approximate cost of harvesting when a crop is not worth harvesting.

The adjustment, Cole said, raises the low yield allowances to 300 kg per acre for barley, wheat, oats, rye, field peas, corn, triticale and faba beans; for dry beans, 240 kg per acre; lentils and desi chickpeas, 80 kg per acre; and kabuli chickpeas, 50 kg per acre.

“I’ve spoken with livestock and crop producers in Alberta who are worried about the impact that dry conditions could have this year. Changing the yield threshold will give them some breathing room, so they can make the best decisions for their operations,” federal agriculture minister Heath MacDonald said in a federal/provincial release.

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