African farmers responding to changing climate

Reuters / African farmers are finding new ways to cope with droughts, erosion and other ravages of climate change, but need to do more to thrive in an increasingly uncertain environment, scientists say. Smallholders have started to plant more drought-resistant and faster-growing crops to keep the harvests coming in, according to a survey of 700

Monsoons ease drought fears in India

new delhi / reuters / India’s drought has abated with a late revival in monsoon rains. The June-September monsoon rains, which are crucial for the 55 per cent of India’s farmland that is rain fed, were about 12 per cent below average until the end of August. Drought typically results when rains fall 10 per


Summer weather trying to hang on

We are starting to see a shift in the general weather pattern across much of Canada, but I’m not sure if this is really a fundamental change in the pattern or the pattern simply adjusting to the changing season. For this forecast period we’ll see a bit of a battle between a ridge of high

Warm summer, warm fall?

From most people’s perspective summer is now over and we are entering fall. A few locations in southeastern Manitoba even saw a touch of frost over the weekend. That means it’s time to take a look ahead to see what the long-range forecasters predict for this fall. But before we tackle that, we need to



India fertilizer giant eyes Saskatchewan potash

winnipeg / reuters Western Potash Corp., a junior mining company looking to build a potash mine southeast of Regina, says it is talking about a joint venture with India’s Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, among others. It hopes to open the $2.5-billion Milestone mine by 2016 and eventually produce 2.8 million tonnes of potash annually. “We


El Niño short and weak

Reuters / El Niño weather conditions have emerged but will likely be weak and short lived, New Zealand scientists said Sept. 4. El Niño is a warming of sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific that occurs every four to 12 years. “Borderline El Niño conditions are present in the tropical Pacific, and a weak,

What is causing our summer heat?

As summer slowly begins to wind down, with weather across the region being fairly uneventful, the question is, just what should I write about this week? We have looked back at the historic heat we’ve seen over the last year, we have gone into detail about the record-breaking heat over the central U.S., and we



No need for ad hoc Ontario drought aid, says Ritz

Existing supports should be enough The federal government doesn’t expect to announce any ad hoc aid programs for Ontario farmers suffering from drought, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz told reporters in Saskatoon July 31. “I think we have fullness in our programming that allows us the latitude to address this,” Ritz said. Earlier in the day