LASALLE, Man. – Better weather data is finally at farmers’ fingertips, or at least readily accessible by station display unit, computer or mobile device.The service is called WeatherFarm, and its job is to provide accurate, localized weather updates every five seconds.It operates using solar powered weather stations that have been set up across the Prairies: 500 at farm input retailers and grain terminals and the remaining 200 on farms.Recently, one went up on Mike Bast’s farm east of LaSalle Man.Bast’s basic $1,750 WeatherBug station documents temperature, precipitation, humidity, barometric pressure and dew point. It also logs wind speed, wind direction and wind gusts. The basic package is also available with optional sensors for soil moisture, ultraviolet and leaf wetness, all of which Bast chose not to include at this time.Most farmers buy the basic station. The more sophisticated commercial station costs $2,750 and is capable of monitoring 27 environmental factors. It also has lightning and camera options. “We’ll take it one step at a time with the basic system,” said Bast. “We’ll try it like this first and monitor the most important weather factors for a while. Then we’ll decide what we want to add.” Bast said it’s impossible to get accurate wind speed readings in his sheltered yard. With the station located at the edge of a field, all he has to do is look at the dedicated WeatherFarm display unit in the farm office to see what the weather is like beyond the shelterbelt. “This will give me more accurate wind speeds, humidity and temperature, especially considering frost at seeding time. I want to know if it’s localized frost just around my farm and compare that to readings at the airport 20 miles away.”Data is processed at a central computer in Maryland operated by WeatherBug, the source company for WeatherFarm, using thousands of reporting stations spread across North America. In Canada, the Canadian Wheat Board is the official WeatherBug partner delivering the service it calls WeatherFarm.Its features: * WeatherFarm is a free service providing up-to-the-minute localized weather data, growing degrees days, frost reports and market information. It also provides farmers with risk assessment maps and modeling tools to predict and manage problems such as fusarium, wheat midge and sclerotinia. * Total Lightning Network is an advanced warning forecast of severe weather such as tornados, downburst winds and cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. It predicts lightning strikes to the earth by tracking the cloud-to-cloud strikes, which precede ground strikes. The Western Producer is one of the media partners for the WeatherFarm service and will soon offer access to weather data on its website. The information is also available on the CWB website.Alison Sass, weather specialist for the wheat board’s WeatherFarm project, said the service will have a variety of on-farm applications:* better assessment of wind conditions and available window of opportunity;* identify optimal spray conditions using temperature, humidity and potential rainfall; * document spray drift situations relative to wind speed and direction;* predict crop diseases and insect infestations;* react to frost events according to their severity;* assess conditions for seeding.For more information, contact Alison Sass at 204-983-4783 or Alison_Sass@cwb.ca, visit www.cwb.ca/public/en/farmers/weather/stations/ or visit www.weatherfarm.com.
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