Chicago | Reuters — U.S. spring wheat futures hit their highest level in nearly three years on Tuesday on forecasts for stressful weather in the northern Plains, analysts said. Corn and soybean futures also climbed after a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report said the condition of all three U.S. crops was worse than analysts […] Read more
U.S. grains: Spring wheat near three-year high on dry weather
Rain falls province-wide, some acres too wet to finish seeding
Alberta crop conditions as of June 20
Reading Time: < 1 minute It has been raining province wide, following a dry spell towards the end of May, with the Peace Region being the driest. Over the past week, most areas of the province received at least 10 mm of rain, with most parts of the North East and North West Regions as well as some areas in […] Read more
Diving a little deeper into summer weather and tornadoes
Tornadoes are nearly impossible to study but we do know a lot about the mechanics of how they form
Reading Time: 3 minutes In this instalment, we’ll continue our look at severe thunderstorms, and specifically, the most deadly part — tornadoes. While eastern parts of the Prairies have only seen a few isolated severe thunderstorms, parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta have already seen their fair share. I think most Canadians were more than impressed, and maybe a little bit […] Read more
Manitoba forages fight past winterkill, pest issues
CNS Canada — The first hay cut is well underway in several parts of Manitoba as favourable weather conditions set the stage for what could be a decent forage season. “Generally speaking they’re (forages) all doing well,” said Pamela Iwanchysko, farm production extension specialist with the provincial government in Dauphin. “The rains were timely.” What […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soy hits 17-month low, corn two-month low
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures touched a 17-month low and corn fell to a roughly two-month low on Thursday, pressured by forecasts for cooler weather conditions that could reduce stress on developing crops, traders and analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures followed corn lower, declining for the second straight session even […] Read more
Trade sees Canadian farmers trimming wheat, canola acres
Winnipeg | Reuters — Soggy spring conditions in key crop-growing areas of the Canadian Prairies left farmers unable to plant as much as they intended, but canola seedings still look record-large, according to a Reuters survey of 16 traders and analysts ahead of a government report next week. Wet weather made fields sloppy in Alberta’s […] Read more
Seeding nears the finish line, growing conditions good to excellent
Alberta crop conditions as of June 13
Reading Time: 2 minutes Over the past week, most areas of the province received at least 10 mm of rain, with the western areas of the Southern, Central and North West Regions as well as southern areas of the Peace Region receiving over 20-30 mm of rain. About 96 per cent of crops across the province have now been […] Read more
Washouts shut Hudson Bay Railway for shipping season
Flooding and rail bed washouts on sections of northern Manitoba’s Hudson Bay Railway have led the line’s owner to suspend its operations indefinitely. The closure of the portion of the line running from Amery, Man., about 50 km northeast of Gillam, north to Hudson Bay at Churchill, all but ensures no Prairie grain, other than […] Read more
Seeding 91 per cent complete, harvest of over-wintered crops nears completion
Alberta crop conditions as of June 6
Reading Time: < 1 minute A week of favourable weather has advanced seeding to 91 per cent completed, up 12 percentage points for the week but well behind the five year average of 99.5 per cent. Seeding intentions are changing due to the late date as producers shift acres to barley away from spring wheat, canola and field peas. Crop […] Read more
Tornado season is upon us — here’s what to watch for
The area between the storm and cloud, clouds with bags hanging from them, and the wind are keys in spotting the danger
Reading Time: 3 minutes So far in our look at severe summer weather, and in particular thunderstorms, we have looked at how thunderstorms form, how they can grow into severe thunderstorms, and finally, how hail is produced. Next up on the severe thunderstorm list is tornadoes! Before we begin our look at tornadoes though, I think we have to […] Read more