Drought-hit producers slaughtered 659,000 head of cattle in June, the highest monthly figure in three years
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — Danny Stork, a livestock farmer in Glen Oak, 180 kilometres north of Sydney, has 20 bales of hay left for his 100 head of cattle. He is now feeding them light rations in the hope the winter drought breaks. If it doesn’t, and weather forecasts suggest it won’t, he will run […] Read moreTag Archives Drought
Feed and water shortage hammers ranchers
Every day without rain brings more worry to Alberta and Saskatchewan cattle producers. Pastures across wide areas in both provinces are parched, hay yields are generally below average and, in some places, livestock water sources have dried up. Potential feed shortages this winter are on many producers’ minds, which might result in sale of breeding […] Read more
Dryness threat not getting any better
Conditions range from ‘abnormally dry’ to ‘extreme drought’ across a large portion of Western Canada, causing increasing concern for the upcoming crop
Most prairie grain growers could be looking at a dry and early seeding season in 2018 unless conditions change dramatically over the next two to three months. Trevor Hadwen, an agro-climate expert with Agriculture Canada, says conditions across much of the West remain unusually dry. Agriculture Canada just released the latest version of its Canadian […] Read moreDrought sends mustard production in steep decline
Mustard production projected by Statistics Canada shows a decline of almost 50 percent from a year ago. However, Richard Marleau, chair of the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission, said the numbers could have been far worse. Mustard is grown mainly in southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta, two areas hit hardest by drought. That accounts for most […] Read more
Dry conditions in Sask. set grass, fence lines, combine ablaze
Feeding will begin much earlier at Six Mile Ranch this fall after fire swept through stockpiled winter grazing acreage last week. “We have lost about 11 miles of fence and about 2,800 acres of grass ourselves,” said Clayton Gibson of the Red Angus operation at Fir Mountain, Sask. “Neighbours have lost probably another 800 acres […] Read more
‘We’re trying to prolong the agony’
Drought in many parts of Western Canada means ranchers will need to act innovatively this summer to avoid problems next year. Importing feed is one option, says Saskatchewan Agriculture specialist Lorne Klein. “There are numerous products out there you can truck in,” he said. “But then it’s a matter of the price.” He said the […] Read more
Managing fertility after a drought
We are all aware of the impact of drought on crop yields, but what is happening in the field goes far beyond faulty plants and can last for several years, even when precipitation returns to otherwise normal levels. Drought causes several soil processes to slow down or virtually stop. The two most pronounced effects of […] Read more
The big dry
Relentless heat continued to take a toll on crops in western and southern Saskatchewan this week, turning what might have been an above average harvest into one that will be average at best in some areas and below average in others. In southwestern Saskatchewan, daytime temperatures peaked at more than 38 C July 30, capping […] Read more
Heat and drought rewriting 2017 wheat story
(Editor’s note: the print version of the story has incorrect information about the amount of rain in Saskatchewan. The story has been corrected here.) My car thermometer hit 38 C July 16 as I drove an area around Moose Jaw, Sask., although Environment Canada said the official high was 34.9 C. Whatever it was, it […] Read more
Canola suffers in northern U.S. drought
It’s been incredibly dry in southwestern North Dakota this year. The area is so parched that locals can cite the last time it rained. “Right in our region, around Hettinger … we had our last significant rain in April,” said John Rickertsen, a North Dakota State University extension agronomist in Hettinger, 20 kilometres from the […] Read more
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