File photo of vessels on the Mississippi River south of New Orleans on Nov. 5, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Shallow Mississippi River expected to persist as dry winter hits U.S. South

River levels at historic lows this fall

Reuters — Low water levels on the Mississippi River are likely to persist this winter as drier-than-normal weather is expected across the southern U.S. and Gulf Coast, U.S. government forecasters said on Thursday. Drought, which currently spans 59 per cent of the country, is expected to continue or worsen in the middle and lower Mississippi

“If you use weather data, you won’t find one of these droughts. Look at these droughts of 20 to 30 years.” – David Sauchyn, PARC.

Tree ring timeline a window into the past – and future

Recent droughts have been devastating but the trees say we ain’t seen nothin’ yet

It’s 888 CE. In Europe, the Vikings are rampaging through England and France and the Carolingian dynasty is losing its grip on the Holy Roman Empire. In China, the Tang Dynasty is in power. In what’s now Saskatchewan, Indigenous peoples are living through a dry spell that would last another three or four decades. Scientists


glass of milk and dairy cows

EU sees lower meat and dairy output

Meat and dairy production in the European Union is expected to decline this year and next as livestock farms feel the effects of drought, disease outbreaks and rising costs, the EU’s executive said Oct. 5. A historic drought in Europe this summer has reduced availability of grass and grain to feed herds, increasing costs for



“In the EU, impacts of the summer drought, despite the sparse return of rainfall, have brought the yield outlook for crops to a rather uniform poor status.” – AMIS note.

Europe’s farmers bring in drought-scarred maize crop

EU production seen at 15-year low, raising import needs even in producing nations

The European Union’s maize harvest is in full swing and field work is confirming widespread drought damage that analysts expect to push the feed grain crop to a 15-year low. A historic drought and successive heatwaves in Europe affected maize, or corn, during crucial summer growth stages. Showers in the past month appeared too late.

Dry soil in Russia’s south poses risk for 2023 grain crop

Low soil moisture reserves in Russia’s southern breadbasket pose risks for the 2023 grain crop of the world’s largest wheat exporter, said agriculture ministry official Roman Nekrasov on Oct. 6. Farmers in Russia have accelerated winter wheat sowing after recent rain eased dry soil conditions in some regions last week, though sowing is still delayed


Cows that were stranded in a flooded barn at Abbotsford, B.C. are rescued on Nov. 16, 2021 by people in boats and on a jet-ski after rainstorms lashed the province, triggering landslides and floods and shutting highways. (File photo: Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters)

Drought-stricken B.C. bracing for floods when rains return

Reuters — British Columbia on Thursday warned residents to prepare for flooding when rains eventually return after a prolonged drought exacerbated by climate change that has raised concerns about long-term damage to ecosystems ranging from glaciers to salmon rivers. The usually rainy western province has experienced weeks of record-breaking warm fall temperatures and minimal precipitation

Cattle receive supplemented feed at the Myhre farm near Crane River, Man.

Fighting for footing: The great cattle exodus

Is there a way back from Manitoba’s continued slide in the cattle sector?

In 2017, then-provincial agriculture minister Ralph Eichler set an aspirational goal for Manitoba’s place in the cattle industry. It was his intention to see as many cows on the landscape as there were before BSE devastated the market 15 years before. The day he uttered that objective, to a crowded auditorium at Ag Days in


U.S. barge backlog swells on parched Mississippi River

U.S. grain exporters aren’t booking new sales due to uncertainties

Reuters – Commercial barge traffic on southern stretches of the Mississippi River was at a standstill on Oct. 4 as low water levels halted shipments of grain, fertilizer and other commodities on the critical waterway, shipping sources said. The supply chain snarl comes just as harvesting of corn and soybeans, the largest U.S. cash crops, is ramping up

File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Saskatchewan’s pulse harvest seen as average

MarketsFarm — As the harvest in Saskatchewan wraps up for 2022, pulse specialist Dale Risula said pulse crops were quite good this year — a definite improvement over last year’s drought-stricken production. “Overall for the province we will likely see average production this year, although some areas suffered pretty badly,” Risula said. He said there