File photo of wheat south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2022. (Dave Bedard photo)

Prairies’ high-pressure ridge should give way by mid-month

Brisk harvest pace expected meanwhile

MarketsFarm — While there’s not one specific cause of the hot September the Canadian Prairies has generally been having so far, Weatherlogics chief scientist Scott Kehler notes one particular shorter-term factor. “There is a fairly strong upper-level ridge of high pressure across the Prairies right now,” he explained, adding it should dissipate by mid-month. The […] Read more



People cook food beside their damaged house following rains and floods during Pakistan’s monsoon season at Jafarabad, about 400 km north of Hyderabad, on Aug. 28, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Amer Hussain)

Produce prices spike in flood-hit Pakistan as food crisis looms

Flooding wrecks crops, hampers logistics

Lahore | Reuters — Vegetable and fruit prices have soared in markets across Pakistan as devastating rains ruin crops and disrupt supplies, an early sign of how the worst floods in decades are creating food shortages at a time of financial crisis. Pakistan’s 220 million people are already facing rampant inflation, with consumer prices up […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canadian crop production bounces back, StatCan reports

Wheat at higher end of trade projections

MarketsFarm — After 2021’s historic drought on the Prairies caused crop production to fall to historic lows, the 2022 harvest has mostly bounced back to pre-drought levels, according to Statistics Canada. StatCan on Monday released its July 2022 satellite image-based principal field crop production estimates, which confirmed analysts’ expectations that this year’s crop production would […] Read more


(Yanosh_Nemesh/iStock/Getty Images)

Growers urged to leave hail-damaged samples

Alberta again hit hardest in late-June storms

Reading Time: < 1 minute Members of the Canadian Crop Hail Association are asking hail-affected growers to leave adequate samples for adjusters. The CCHA said storms damaged crops with hail as large as baseballs across Western Canada in late July and member companies are investigating more than 1,500 claims. In a release, CCHA president Scott McQueen of Palliser Insurance said […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Greater crop production estimated prior to StatCan report

Extended time lag between survey, data's release criticized

MarketsFarm — Analysts are expecting Canadian crop production totals for the 2022-23 marketing year to be substantially higher compared to drought-stricken 2021-22, but still not enough to fully replenish supplies. Statistics Canada (StatCan) will publish its first satellite image model-based yield and production estimates for principal field crops on Monday. Traders and analysts are interested […] Read more


To get a red sunrise or sunset, you need a large number of particles in the air for the sunlight to bounce off, causing us to see more red light.

Red sky at night? Maybe. But snow from fog in August?

Our weather columnist analyzes some common sayings, and would like to hear some more

Reading Time: 4 minutes This summer I have crisscrossed this great country of ours. I started in early July heading east into the Muskoka region of Ontario to compete in an Ironman 70.3 triathlon. After spending a couple of weeks there, I returned home and did some quick gardening before heading west to Canmore for a wedding. What a […] Read more




Dry weather hits French wheat crop

Dry weather hits French wheat crop

Reading Time: < 1 minute French consultancy Agritel said July 26 it expects the soft wheat crop in France to fall 5.6 per cent this year after adverse weather. “French producers have had to deal with frost, drought, hail and scorching temperatures. These phenomena affected most of France with different degrees of intensity,” Agritel said in a statement.  Its estimate […] Read more