After 2005, 2010 and 2011, 2013 was another wet year in the southwest. The front page of our July 11 issue had a story reporting on the problems cattle producers near Reston were facing after a 12- to 15-inch downpour two weeks earlier. Some were being forced to find alternative pastures. The deluge flooded basements in Reston and there were about 120 washouts on area roads, and repairs to those and bridges were estimated at $750,000. Another story said the Manitoba government officials were going back to the drawing board to come up with a permanent flood-mitigation plan for the western part of the province, but some farmers wondered how effective it would be until flows were controlled from Saskatchewan.

Pork producers that year were getting first news of the deadly PED virus. A story earlier that month said the Manitoba Pork Council was asking truckers to avoid trailer washes using recycled water in order to minimize risk of transmitting the disease which by July had infected nearly 200 farms in 13 U.S. states.