File photo of a storm cloud from the southwestern end of Lake Winnipeg at Matlock, Man. (IanChrisGraham/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Average Prairie heat, more rain in summer forecast

MarketsFarm — Canada’s Prairies should see higher-than-normal precipitation and generally average temperatures during the 2020 growing season, according to a forecast from Scott Kehler of Weatherlogics. Speaking Thursday at CropConnect in Winnipeg, Kehler said “there’s not really a strong pattern one way or the other” when it comes to the temperature outlook. The Weatherlogics forecast […] Read more

Forecaster Drew Lerner, shown here at Ag Days 2020 in Brandon, sees a cooler-than-normal spring ahead for the Prairies. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Alexis Stockford)

Variable Prairie weather makes for uncertain spring ahead

If nothing else, a rainy harvest season helped replenish topsoil moisture

MarketsFarm — Late-season rains wreaked havoc on the 2019 harvest season but were helpful in restoring topsoil moisture to key growing regions in the Prairies. Since snow coverage has been variable across the Prairies so far in 2020, however, the growing season may get off to a rocky start. “If we take a look at […] Read more



Rain has greatly boosted prospects in the north and central areas, but much of the south and Peace are bone dry.

Rain turns fortunes around for many, but not all

In the north and central regions, crops are looking very good, but the south and Peace are suffering

Reading Time: 3 minutes Some much-needed moisture during the month of June may have turned this year’s crop prospects around — at least in some parts of the province. “It’s been an interesting growing season so far — from a very dry May to the central areas getting quite a bit of precipitation in June,” provincial crop specialist Mark […] Read more


Prairie drought reaches tipping point

Prairie drought reaches tipping point

MarketsFarm — The Prairie provinces have been under the influence of a large ridge of high pressure for a number of weeks, which has produced prolonged dryness with little precipitation. That high pressure system has pushed low-pressure, precipitation-carrying systems to the south, where the U.S. Midwest has already received significant rain. Environment Canada estimated the […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain prices strong as dry weather persists

MarketsFarm — Producers are anxious to stock up on feed grains as weather across the Prairies has remained dry. “We’ve been seeing buyers being quite aggressive [when] bidding on all feed grains,” explained Nelson Neumann of Agfinity in Lethbridge. “Nobody wants to be caught without anything over the summer.” With little precipitation in the forecast, […] Read more


One weather forecaster predicts rainfall totals will be near normal across much of Alberta while another outlook forecasts a ‘hotter-than-usual summer’ on the Prairies.

Weather forecast calls for normal rainfall

But as with anything, there is an opposite outlook

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Weather Network is predicting Alberta will see slightly above-normal temperatures this summer but possibly above-normal rainfall in the south. “A changeable summer is expected across Alberta with back-and-forth temperature swings that come close to offsetting each other,” it said in its forecast for June to August. “Rainfall totals are expected to be near normal […] Read more

Vegetation growth index for the Prairie provinces compared to average as of May 26. (CCAP)

Canadian crop development behind average

MarketsFarm — Crop development is running behind average across much of Canada, with excessive moisture delaying seeding in Ontario and dryness slowing crop development across the Prairies. That’s according to the latest satellite data from the federal Crop Condition Assessment Program (CCAP), created in partnership between Statistics Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Crop development […] Read more