The province establishes a drought command team to work on an emergency plan amidst the continuing drought threat
MEDICINE HAT — Alberta weather has faced dramatic swings recently, from record high temperatures in December to lows in January not seen in decades, but the threat of a devastating drought continues along the same trajectory. Snowpack reporting stations along Alberta’s Eastern Slopes and from the headwaters of rivers that flow into the province from […] Read moreTag Archives Dry Times
Alta. braces for another bad fire season
MEDICINE HAT — The potential for a return of wildfires in the Peace Country continue to grow as dry conditions in Alberta’s northwestern quarter aren’t anticipated to improve without significant precipitation. The fires that hit the region started early and spread fast in May 2023 following a dry winter, causing dozens of communities to evacuate […] Read more
VIDEO: Alta. plans for water shortages
UPDATED – Video added to story January 16, 2024 – 1515 CST – MEDICINE HAT — An early January snowfall across the Prairies brought slight relief to dry conditions following one of the warmest, driest Decembers on record in Alberta and Saskatchewan, but drought concerns remain. Alberta is moving into high gear to co-ordinate agricultural, […] Read more
Brazil showers pause drought worry; canola exports slow
The holidays are over and it’s time to assess what happened in world crop markets while we were focused on turkey, presents and merry making. Judging by crop futures, the trend of prices slowly grinding lower has continued. And looking at Canadian crop exports, the trend of strong wheat shipments but slow canola movement continues. […] Read more
Southern Alberta running on empty
There needs to be reminders that the frontier aspect of Alberta is over and we need to grow up. Unlimited space and inexhaustible resources are no more. Perhaps last on the list to be recognized is water, especially for southern Alberta. The Alberta government seems incoherently reluctant to make Albertans aware of the real possibility […] Read more
Grain sector faces three big concerns this year
I wanted to call them elephants in the room, but that term applies to big issues no one wants to discuss. In this case, farmers are more than willing to discuss and even obsess about them. The agricultural input industry, on the other hand, would rather steer conversations in other directions. Big concern No. 1 […] Read more
Global fertilizer supply chain hits another snag
Drought in Brazil prompts producers there to use less fertilizer, denting sales in an industry already facing challenges
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) — Brazil’s drought is causing farmers there to delay fertilizer purchases for their upcoming corn-planting season, denting sales for global fertilizer suppliers in the world’s top corn-exporting country, executives told Reuters. Brazil’s soybean harvest is already delayed and that hold-up may push back planting for the main corn season that follows […] Read more
Prairie soybean acreage increase has a ceiling
Specialists say the crop is a ‘sub-tropical species’ that likely can’t reach four to five million acres in Western Canada
Not long ago, soybean advocates were expecting the crop to reach four to five million acres in Western Canada. After several years of drought, industry experts are now saying that soybeans can still perform on the Prairies, but likely on a smaller number of acres. “I think Manitoba will probably end up at 1.5 to […] Read more
Canal drought hits shipping
REUTERS — Bulk grain shippers hauling crops from the U.S. Gulf Coast export hub to Asia are sailing longer routes and paying higher freight costs to avoid vessel congestion and record-high transit fees in the drought-hit Panama Canal, traders and analysts said. The shipping snarl through one of the world’s main maritime trade routes comes […] Read more
Alberta requests options for dealing with drought
Alberta is preparing for possible water shortages in southern rivers that feed its irrigation network and is asking for proposals to help deal with the situation. “A key element of this is the development of water sharing agreements, whereby holders of large water licences work together to agree on how much less water each will […] Read more
