Clayton Harder has plenty of experience with fungicides. That’s because he farms near Winnipeg, one of the wettest regions in Western Canada. But this year he isn’t spraying fungicides on his canola, soybeans, wheat and other crops because conditions are severely dry on his farm north of Winnipeg. “I spoke to a couple of other […] Read more
Tag Archives Drought
Drought forces producers to sell cattle
Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan asks government for a drought-related AgriRecovery assessment
Puddles. The sight of them in fields near Camrose, Alta., pleased Alberta rancher Brad Osadczuk as he drove home from last week’s Alberta Beef Producers meeting in Edmonton. He hasn’t seen a puddle since last year on his ranch near Jenner, Alta., the western side of a widespread drought affecting southeastern Alberta, most of Saskatchewan […] Read more
APAS proposes drought relief measures
Farm group wants action on Agri-Recovery and help with water supplies
Saskatchewan’s general farm organization is calling for immediate government action to help the province’s farmers and ranchers cope with drought. The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan has proposed several steps to help the province’s crop and livestock cope with current drought conditions that are affecting much of the province. According to a June 12 news […] Read more
Drought becomes top-of-mind issue for farmers
It’s an awful start to the growing season. Western Canada is on the brink of a major crop failure and a severe feed shortage. Miraculous turnarounds have occurred in past years and it’s amazing how much can sometimes be produced with very little rain, but the situation is quickly becoming serious. It’s not rare to […] Read more
Profit runs dry at Australia’s GrainCorp as drought withers crops
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — Australia’s biggest listed bulk grain handler, GrainCorp Ltd., has reported a larger-than-expected half-yearly loss as severe drought withers crops in one of the world’s top exporters of commodities such as wheat. The firm also cut its dividend as it grapples with the fallout from the driest conditions in a century with […] Read more
Taking a rain check: Australian farmers shun fertilizer purchases as drought lingers
SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australian farmers are postponing buying fertilizer and other products they typically use to protect their crops as a drought across the country’s east coast darkens the outlook for the rural sector in one of the world’s top exporters of grains. Australia is the world’s sixth largest canola producer. Farmers usually begin sowing […] Read more
Dry conditions to curb Australia’s wheat crop for 3rd year – forecaster
SINGAPORE, (Reuters) – Dry conditions for up to six months in parts of Australia’s east coast are set to curb wheat crop yields for a third straight year in the world’s No.4 exporter of the grain, a private U.S.-based weather forecaster said on Wednesday. Australia has been grappling with successive years of drought that have […] Read more
Australian farmers running out of time
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 more
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 more
