Reading Time: 2 minutes Two up-and-coming grazing systems could help Alberta cattle producers combat drought. In a three-year study conducted by the Peace Country Beef and Forage Association, researchers found bale-grazing and bale-processing sites improve organic matter in the soil and increase the soil’s water-holding capacity more than other types of grazing system. “We’ve seen a lot of drought […] Read more
Bale grazing and processing best at battling drought
A Peace Country study found bale grazing and processing is the best way to improve water retention and infiltration
California orders 25 per cent reduction in water usage
Reuters — California Governor Jerry Brown, acting in the face of a devastating multiyear drought, ordered the first statewide mandatory water restrictions on Wednesday, directing cities and communities to reduce usage by 25 per cent. The cutbacks, to be implemented by state and local water agencies, will affect consumers and businesses throughout the most populous […] Read more
It’s getting dry — is it time to worry?
No, says weather expert, but areas across the province are on Bruce Burnett’s watch list
Reading Time: 3 minutes With warm-weather records dropping like flies and bare fields drying out in parts of the province, is there trouble ahead? Don’t worry yet, says Bruce Burnett, weather and crops specialist at the CWB. “I don’t think that this early-spring weather means that we are necessarily headed for a drought,” Burnett said in a March 20 […] Read more
Chile says drought here to stay, lays out plan to ensure water
Santiago | Reuters — With no end in sight to a drought that has blighted Chile for the last several years, the government will invest in desalinization plants and reservoirs to ensure access to potable water, President Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday. The drought, which began in 2007, is hampering copper production in the world’s […] Read more
No relief in sight for U.S. West’s drought in spring outlook
Chicago | Reuters — Drought pressures will increase in California and western areas of the U.S. this spring even as the dry season begins, the government’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday. “Periods of record warmth in the West and not enough precipitation during the rainy season cut short drought relief in California this winter and […] Read more
California tightens water regulations amid long drought
Sacramento | Reuters — Water regulators in California voted on Tuesday to outlaw watering the lawn within 48 hours of a rainstorm, the latest effort to spur Californians to conserve as the state enters its fourth year of drought. Facing a dramatic slowdown in voluntary conservation efforts by property owners, the state Water Resources Control […] Read more
Washington’s governor declares drought emergency
San Francisco | Reuters –– Washington state Governor Jay Inslee declared a drought emergency across three regions including key agricultural hubs of the U.S. Northwest state on Friday, citing near-record-low snowpack levels ahead of the spring runoff. Watersheds on the Olympic Peninsula, east side of the central Cascade Mountains including Yakima and Wenatchee, and Walla […] Read more
New Zealand declares partial drought, offers farm assistance
Wellington | Reuters — New Zealand has declared a drought in parts of the country’s South Island, offering financial assistance and tax relief to farmers after dry conditions have cut dairy production and increased sheep and beef slaughter rates. The government on Thursday said medium-scale drought conditions were affecting the east coast of the South […] Read more
‘River of rain’ begins falling on drought-stricken California
Los Angeles | Reuters — A so-called “atmospheric river of rain” began falling on northern California on Friday, bringing worries about flash floods, high winds and mudslides but offering little relief to a state left parched by several years of drought. The storm, also known as a “Pineapple Express” because it results from a ribbon […] Read more
Drought-stricken Peace Country producers get tax break but need rain
It’s been dry, dry, dry in the Peace Country and if the rains don’t come this year, they’ll ‘be hurting big time’
Reading Time: 3 minutes Cattle producers in northern Alberta can make use of an income tax deferral to help them weather the 2014 drought in the Peace Country. But what they really need is a break from Mother Nature. “In 2013, the Peace Country got average rainfall,” said Valleyview producer Roland Cailliau, a Zone 9 delegate with Alberta Beef […] Read more