Certain conditions can take a storm to the next level. photo: Xander/istock/getty images

Back to our look at severe summer weather

What makes a garden-variety thunderstorm an event to truly remember?

In the last issue we discussed humidity and dew point, and no, I did not realize at the time we were going to see some ridiculously high dew points during the short-lived heat wave that hit us on June 19. If you recall the article, life-threatening dew points have begun to occur in some subtropical

The grain entrapment demo unit that the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association takes to farm events is an eye-opener for some producers.

Reducing grain-handling and storage hazards starts with bin preparation, safety plan

Practical strategies can make for a safer harvest season

Glacier FarmMedia – Handling and storing grain are dangerous tasks that expose farmers to numerous hazards. Power takeoff (PTO) entanglements and suffocation from grain engulfment or entrapment are two of the most common incidents involving grain. Keeping stored grain in good condition and following recommended safety measures when working with grain can prevent incidents. To


(Lightguard/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan shores up disaster program for bigger farms

Program extends PDAP aid to higher-revenue farm businesses

Saskatchewan farmers whose operations took damage from storms in April, but whose gross revenues overtopped the maximum for disaster assistance, will now be able to get in on that program. The province on June 16 announced “supplemental relief” via the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program to help farmers who didn’t qualify under PDAP’s usual eligibility rules.

A mobile biomass densification system, developed at PAMI in Portage la Prairie and shown here in a 2012 video, was used to process biomass such as straw into solid blocks, for ease of transport or for use in biomass burners. (BioScience Association Manitoba video screengrab via YouTube)

PAMI to close Portage la Prairie location

Revenue challenges in recent years blamed for Manitoba site's closure

The product development, testing and design firm Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), will be closing its Portage la Prairie, Man. location at the end of July. Citing revenue challenges in recent years as the reason for downsizing, the institute informed staff and clients of the closure of its River Road facility in Portage, prior to


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

U.S. EPA ordered to reassess glyphosate impact on health, environment

Decision doesn't prohibit Roundup's use

Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was ordered by a federal appeals court on Friday to take a fresh look at whether glyphosate, the active ingredient in Bayer’s Roundup herbicide, poses unreasonable risks to humans and the environment. In a 3-0 decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with several environmental, farmworker



File photo of a garbage dump at Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. (Rlesyk/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada launches offset credits to help tackle emissions

Landfill gas protocols now launched; ag-related protocols soon to follow

Reuters — Canada on Wednesday launched a credit system for greenhouse gas offsets, a major part of its plan to cut carbon emissions, starting with a set of rules stipulating how projects can generate tradeable credits by capturing gas from landfills. The government said protocols for four other sectors including agriculture and forest management are

File photo of a trumpeter swan in springtime on Marsh Lake, southeast of Whitehorse. (Scalia Media/iStock/Getty Images)

Northern egg harvesters cautioned over avian flu

High-path H5N1 found in wild birds in Yukon

Residents of Canada’s northern territories who harvest migratory wild birds and their eggs this spring are urged to take precautions as highly pathogenic avian influenza makes its way northward. The Yukon government’s animal health unit on May 27 reported confirmed cases of high-path H5N1 avian flu in two wild waterfowl carcasses. “Spring migration is ongoing


(Creativex/iStock/Getty Images)

Environment Canada sees cool summer for Manitoba

MarketsFarm — Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan could be in for a cooler-than-normal summer, according to the latest long-range outlook from Environment Canada. The latest seasonal forecast from the government agency, released Tuesday, calls for a 40 to 80 per cent chance of below normal temperatures from June through August across all of the agricultural regions

(Cavan Images/iStock/Getty Images)

Hepatitis A outbreak linked to organic strawberries

Cases reported in two provinces, three states

Washington | Reuters –– Food safety regulators in both Canada and the U.S. are investigating a hepatitis A outbreak potentially linked to tainted organic strawberries that has sickened 17 people in the U.S. and 10 in Canada, the agencies said. Fifteen illnesses were reported in California, and one each in Minnesota and North Dakota, the