Cattle are turned out on pasture near Priddis west of Calgary in mid-May. Recent precipitation in the area has improved field and pasture outlooks and helped reduce wildfire risk.

Better weather winds for 2024 grazing season

Prairie provinces received vital rains in April and May

Reading Time: 4 minutes The grazing season has had some memorably bad starts in recent years, but 2024 promises to break the cycle across much of the Prairies. “This is the best start we’ve had for a year for a long time,” said Graeme Finn, founder of Union Forage and rancher near Crossfield, Alta. “These pastures now are looking […] Read more






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Prairie forecast: Mild with a chance of showers

A large area of low pressure stalled out just south of the Prairies early this week, bringing some much-needed significant rains that stretched from western Manitoba through Saskatchewan and into Alberta. This low is forecasted to rapidly break down over the next day or so and make way for some nice late-spring weather.



This map shows total precipitation across the Prairies over the five-year period ending March 31. Much of the western half of Saskatchewan and southeastern part of Alberta have totals less than 1,500 mm. Northeastern Alberta and southeastern Manitoba have precipitation totals three times greater, at more than 4,000 mm.

The slow slide into drought

The current Prairie moisture situation is the result of years of ongoing precipitation deficits

Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – We had a fairly major storm system on the Prairies in late April, but it was not strong enough to warrant major attention. Manitoba received the most moisture from this system, with widespread 20 to 30 millimetres of rain mixed with snow. The northern half of agricultural Saskatchewan, along with the far […] Read more


Canadian drought conditions as of Mar. 31, 2024.

Recent precipitation welcome, but more needed

Northern Alberta is particularly dry this spring, but even areas that are receiving rain have low soil moisture reserves

Reading Time: 3 minutes Even though all three Prairie provinces had snow or rain last winter and this spring, moving out of drought conditions is not necessarily a given. “We’ve seen near normal precipitation throughout most of Saskatchewan and well as southern Alberta and much of Manitoba,” said Trevor Hadwen, agroclimate specialist with Agriculture Canada. This precipitation occurred Sept. […] Read more

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Prairie forecast: Cool and unsettled weather to continue

Forecast issued May 1, 2024, covering May 1-8

The weather and subsequent forecasts lately have been—to state it simply—a mess. A very active but difficult to forecast pattern has developed across much of Canada and the northern U.S. states. This has brought damp and cool weather to most regions of the Prairies and unfortunately, it looks like this weather will be sticking around at least until the weekend.


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