Forecast: Nice winter weather expected

Issued January 22, 2018: Covering the period from January 24 to January 31

The first half of last week’s forecast was pretty good as mild Pacific air flooded in from the west and northwest, bringing near-record to record highs across much of southern and central Manitoba. The forecast area of low pressure that was expected to track through the Dakotas last Monday ended up tracking much farther south.



Scant snow cover and a recent cold blast doesn’t necessarily spell doom for winter wheat this year.

Snow-bare cereals see deep freeze

Winter cereal crops are facing down extreme cold warnings without 
much snow buffer this winter, so what will that mean for spring?

It’s not time to panic yet on winter cereals, despite sparse snow and cold weather. Curtis Sims of Winter Cereals Canada, and a MacGregor-area producer, says the lack of insulation and frigid weather was far from ideal but it is too early to measure spring impact. “One always feels more comfortable with more snow, but

Forecast: Milder weather, with a chance of snow

Issued January 15, 2018: Covering the period from January 17 to January 24

Once again, the weather models have done a fairly good job of predicting the big picture, but just like in the last forecast period, they struggled with the details. We saw this last weekend as the weather models totally missed out on a weak system moving through ahead of the next arctic high. This system



Forecast: Cold weather moves back in

Issued January 8, 2018: Covering the period from January 13 to January 20

The weather models have been doing a fairly good job of predicting the big picture, but are struggling a little with the details. We saw this over the weekend as air much warmer than anticipated moved in on Sunday and ended up sticking around for an extra day or two before the arctic air returned.


Forecast: Weather pattern trying to switch back to mild

Issued January 3, 2018: Covering the period from January 3 to January 10

The Christmas forecast played out pretty close to what the weather models predicted, as cold weather moved in over the holidays. The one big difference was just how cold it ended up getting, with some areas seeing overnight lows drop into the mid -30s C. For this forecast period it looks like the very cold



(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: CME hogs ease from 10-month top on lower cash prices

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs on Wednesday slid from a 10-month high, weakened by profit-taking and less money paid by packers for slaughter-ready, or cash, hogs, said analysts. February closed 0.5 cent lower at 71.025 cents (all figures US$). April ended down 0.1 cent, at 75.275 cents. Processors need fewer animals

(Government of Alberta via Flickr)

Loans pledged for wildfire-damaged Alberta farms

Ranchers and farmers in two southeastern Alberta municipalities hit by wildfire in mid-October may soon be able to apply for interest-free rebuilding loans. The province’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) on Wednesday announced loan applications will be available Jan. 8 for eligible producers in Cypress County and the MD of Acadia. Applications under the Hilda


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