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Over time, some of the links will have lapsed, so we cannot guarantee they all work. Please note that you can download our Media Database (Excel Worksheet) which contains a full description of most articles and allows searching by subject, date, source, etc. We can also provide hard copies of some items. Please contact us for further information. Rains leave prairie fields soggy, unusable EU grain crop dented by early summer heatwave Planet Ark | by Valerie Parent | June 29, 2005 Hot weather in Europe has threatened to dent this summer's grain crop, which with the worst hit drought in Iberia in 60 years, has helped dampen fears of excess supplies next season, analysts said on Tuesday. Spain and Portugal, both net grain importers, have been the worst affected, seeing cereal crops halved by severe drought in damage running to billions of euros. But the damage has started to spread. Ten days of high temperatures in France have begun to hit yield prospects, which while still high, are looking below the near record levels achieved last year. Excess moisture insurance designed to help those unable to seed because of rain: Wowchuck Winnipeg Free Press | June 29, 2005 Producers with production insurance who were unable to seed before the June 20 seeding deadline because of excessive rains will begin receiving cheques this week, Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Rosann Wowchuck announced today. Seeded acreage reports processed by MCIC as of June 28 show there are already approximately 750,000 acres that qualify for excess moisture insurance (EMI) payments. Farm groups fear disaster as more thunderstorms loom, flood watch issued Winnipeg Free Press | by Carol Sanders | June 29, 2005 Another heavy rain forecast for today has communities bracing for disaster and farmers fearing that nearly a quarter of Manitoba's crops may be wiped out. Between 40 and 60 millimetres of rain are expected across southern Manitoba, with thunderstorms dumping as much as 100 mm in some areas, prompting the province to issue a flood watch. "It's going to be falling on already very saturated conditions," said senior river forecaster Alf Warkentin of Manitoba Water Stewardship. Quarter of crops may be lost in Manitoba. Winnipeg Free Press | by Carol Sanders | June 29, 2005 Earlier this month, the Canadian Wheat Board projected that 1.2 million acres of crops would be lost because fields were too wet to seed. That's 15 per cent of the province's cropland and worth about $200 million. With more rain and seeded crops being flooded, Rolfe projects the losses will be much greater. The two million acres that KAP predicts may be lost represent 25 per cent of Manitoba's farmland. Farmers deal with excess moisture The Saskatoon StarPhoenix | by Angela Hall | June 24, 2005 Farmers who endured one of the worst Praire droughts on record three years ago are now awash in wet conditions - so much that the Canadian Wheat Board is forecasting a two-million-tonne drop in western Canadian wheat production. The Canadian Wheat Board's internal crop forecasts, released this week, project a wheat and durum crop of 22 million tonnes for the 2005-06 crop year, down two million tonnes from the year before. The barley crop is projected to be 11.7 million tonnes, down from the 12.3 million produced in 2005-05. Nature has a temper tantrum The Western Producer | June 24, 2005 It seemed to last for hours but it actually took only seconds for a tornado to wipe out Pat and Rita Hawkins' farmyard near Shamrock in southwestern Saskatchewan. Their house in a nearby yard escaped damage, but the couple lost granaries, both full and empty, a barn, Quonset, feed mill, fences, corrals and cattle. Alberta rains flood the south, jump-start crops to the north Globe and Mail | by Patrick Brethour | June 22, 2005 Standing in the shade on a scorching first day of summer, Ben Erickson peers at his farm and imagines what June would have been like without the torrential rain that has drenched central Alberta. The deluge that swept through Alberta this past week threatened to submerge Drunheller to the south and flooded significant parts of Calgary. But for the farmers outside those cities - particularly those to the north of Calgary - the rain was a just-in-time blessing, enough moisture to keep barely sprouted crops from withering. Globe and Mail | June 22, 2005 Chuck Fossay has a lot of work ahead of him on his farm, and because his fields are soaked, he knows he is unlikely to make a penny this year. Mr. Fossay is one of many western wheat farmers who are unable to use much of their land because of heavy rainfall and flooding. A report issued Wednesday by the Canadian Wheat Board estimates wheat production across the Prairies will drop by two million tonnes - about eight per cent - from last year. Surging rivers flood farms, homes in Alberta The Western Producer | by Barbara Duckworth | June 22, 2005 Unprecedented rainfall over two weekends has turned Alberta rivers into torrents of water that drag away trees and property and flood homes. Those living along the swollen rivers say this is the worst they have seen. The region escaped the rainfall of the June 10 weekend but starting June 17, up to 150 millimetres of rain pelted down in less than two days. Scorching drought takes toll in Iberia, Morocco Planet Ark | by Emma Ross-Thomas and Ian Simpson | June 21, 2005 Severe droughts in Spain, Portugal and Morocco are sparking forest fires, threatening livelihoods and risk wreaking economic havoc, officials in the region say. The worst hit droughts in Spain and Portugal since the 1940s may fuel inflation and dent economic growth while in Morocco conditions are so bad the government fears exodus from rural areas will raise urban employment. All three countries' grain crops have been halved or worse. Dry year has big soil nitrate impact Ontario Farmer | by Peter Reschke | June 21, 2005 After a roller-coaster of temperatures from mid-April to mid-June an OMAF survey has found soil nitrate levels in non-manured fields this summer are on a par with long-term averages. The survey was done by OMAF crop technology staff between June 10-13 on a wide range from 80 or so fields of different soil types and management systems from across the province. While the survey does reveal some interesting average trends, OMAF corn lead Greg Stewart says the only way producers can be sure of their individual field situation is to take their own pre-sederess (PSNT) sample. Spain offers cheap loans to drought struck farmers Planet Ark | June 20, 2005 Spanish farmers who have seen their crops or livestock production severely hurt by the drought will be offered subsidised loans under a 750-million-euro ($910 million) credit line approved by ministers on Friday. Farmers will be offered subsidies to help pay off the capital of the loans they take on, which will be channeled through the Official Credit Institute. After the driest winter since 1947, when records began, farmers are facing sharp losses in production. Hot weather hurts cole crops SPARKPlug | by Hilary Edmonson | June 17, 2005 The recent hot spell in southern Ontario may be temporarily allayed, but the increase in warmer temperatures could be putting the availability and quality of certain vegetables at risk. University of Guelph plant researchers have found significantly warm days - those hotter than 30 degrees Celsius - decrease production in cole crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and potatoes. These crops traditionally do well in cooler temperatures. Biotechnology solution to salinity DAWN | June 17, 2005 Biotechnology has the potential to evolve salinity/drought-tolerant crops to help attain national food security. The technology can offer urgent and indigenous solutions to salinity and low rainfall threatening cultivations in one-fourth arable area of the country. These views were expressed by National Commission on Biotechnology (NCB) Secretary Dr. Kauser Abdulla Malik at a one-day seminar of biotechnologists convened by the commission at the auditorium of Pakistan Council for Science and Technology on Thursday. The event aimed at evolving a strategy to counter the menace of salinity and drought. Weather traders could help curb African famine Planet Ark | by Nick Tattersall | June 16, 2005 Traders in London or Chicago could help some famine from killing millions of people in Africa under a planned scheme to insure the world's poorest countries against drought, a senior United Nations official said. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) hopes to launch weather derivatives next year to hedge Ethiopia and Mali against climate patterns that could trigger food crises, the first time such a scheme would have been used in the developing world. Clashes over pasture land worsen Mali food crisis Reuters | June 16, 2005 Clashes between ethnic groups over scarce grazing land are exacerbating a food crisis in the arid savannah of northern Mali, where 5,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition, aid workers say. Nearly a million people, most of them subsistence farmers, are facing drought in the West African country and thousands of cattle herders have fled their parched traditional pastures in search of water, according to aid group Action contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger). Drought-stricken Aussie farmers dance in the rain Planet Ark | June 14, 2005 Australian farmers have been dancing in the rain as downpours delivered the first soaking falls in over four years to large parts of drought-ridden eastern Australia. The rainfall would be enough to allow many farmers to plant their winter crops after months of waiting. Poverty spreading in Eritrea due to drought Planet Ark | June 14, 2005 Persistent drought and a border dispute with neighbouring Ethiopia is pushing Eritrea further into poverty and increasing food shortages, the United Nations said. The small Horn of Africa country is one of the most food aid dependent countries in the world, with roughly two thirds of Eritrea's estimated 3.6 million people needing some food aid. Sowing seeds of hope as the Bir Dry finally breaks The Sydney Morning Herald | June 13, 2005 It will not be enough to set off wild partying in the paddocks, but parched farmers across the state can look forward to more rain - the second delivery in a double dosing for many - today and tomorrow. The best falls were likely to occur in the northern half of NSW, said Neal Fraser, a forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology. First test of predictions of climate change impacts on biodiversity: Reliance on just one model no better than flipping a coin Eurekalert | June, 2005 A new study published in the journal of Global Ecology and Biogeography represents the first real test of the performance of models used to forecast how species will change their geographic ranges in response to the Earth's changing climate. Dr Miguel Araujo and his colleagues from Oxford University's Biodiveristy Research Group imagined they were back in the 70's and were trying to predict the geographic ranges of British birds in 1991 using 16 commonly used climate-envelope models and the real data on how the climate had changed during this period. Surprisingly, the ability of any single model to accurately predict the 1991 distribution was very poor. July's wheat harvest could be near-record, Johnson says Farm Market | by Peter Epp | June 11, 2005 There's no record acreage, but Ontario's wheat producers could be harvesting record yields next month. OMAF cereal specialist Peter Johnson says growing conditions have been good, with little disease pressure - leading to speculation that July's yield could be better that the provincial average of 72 bushels to an acre. Study shows climate change effect on plant specie Agnet | June 10, 2005 The fate of plant species in Europe takes center stage in a study by Wilfried Thuiller, of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Unite Mixte de Recherche, in Montpellier, France, and colleagues. Using climate data obtained from the Climatic Research Unit of the United Kingdom, researchers projected future climate scenarios, and consequently, distributions for 1,350 European plants in the late 21st century. They found that more than half of the species studied could be vulnerable to or threatened by extinction by the year 2080. Weather causing wheat production to shrink Associated Press | June 10, 2005 Freezes, dry weather and hailstorms have taken a toll on wheat fields in the Plains and will result in lower production than was initially forecast, the Agriculture Department said Friday. The department lowered its wheat production forecast by 45 million bushels from last month. Production is now forecast at 2.14 billion bushels, down slightly from last year's nearly 2.16 billion bushels. Agriculture crop reports available at: http://www.usda.gov/oce/waob/wasde.htm http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs.htm Great plains farmers are diversifying ARS News Service | June 9, 2005 The days of growing wheat every other year or two and leaving the ground bare the rest of the time are a thing of the past in the Great Plains states. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are giving farmers more than a dozen crops to choose from each year, and the means to make choices from among more than 100 possible combinations. The ARS scientists have also developed a free CD farmers insert in their computers to calculate which crops to plant after inputting the latest market prices. Farmers can change crops quickly in response to sudden changes in market conditions, weather or government policy. Drought casts suicide shadow over rural Australia Planet Ark | by Michael Perry June 8, 2005 The rate of rural suicide in Australia is among the highest in the world as farmers battle the stress of years of drought, failed crops, mounting debt and slowly decaying towns. "Every day I look outside and I say to myself: 'I get so sick to death of blue sky'." wrote farmer Mick in a recent book, "Tough Times," in which 10 country men talk about their fight with depression and thought of suicide. Spring wheat may get frost shield The Western Producers | by Adrian Ewins | June 8, 2005 The day may soon be coming when prairie wheat growers can shrug off forecasts of a June or August frost. Plant scientists at the University of Saskatchewan's crop development centre have successfully transferred superior frost tolerance genes into spring wheat. The resulting breeding line, dubbed Saskhardy #8, boasts a two to three C degree improvement in frost tolerance over existing spring wheat lines. Wicked weather whips Manitoba The Western Producers | by Ian Bell | June 8, 2005 Tornadoes and torrents of rain swept across western Manitoba last week. Dorsi Wozney was confronted with a downpour of rain after returning to her family's farm home near Goodlands late in the afternoon of June 1. Only minutes after going into the house, she heard what sounded like a freight train storming through the yard. A storage building in their yard had been obliterated. Among other things the building had housed tools for their sawmill and it was also where they kept chickens. Australia cuts wheat exports: Crop crisis fallout: Severe drought forces 29% cut in forecasted crop National Post | by Jason Gale | June 8, 2005 Australia, the world's second-biggest wheat exporter, slashed its production forecast for grain by a more-than-expected 29% yesterday because of a drought in the country's southeast. Output may reach 16 million tonnes, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said. The Canberra-based bureau predicted a 22.6 million-tonne crop in March and was expected to peg the October-to-January harvest at 19.5 million tonnes. Drought knocks off a third of Spain's wheat crop Planet Ark | June 7, 2005 Spain's drought-hit wheat crop is expected to shrink by a third from last year and the barley harvest by 40 percent, Agriculture Ministry data showed on Monday. Figures were based on data collected in April, before the harvest started and before dry weather in the crucial month of May. One farmer's union said in some southern areas, where the harvest started in May, the drought had reduced yields so much that the grain was not worth harvesting. Modelling Climate Change: known unknowns Open Democracy | by David Stainforth | June 3, 2005 What are models of climate change good for? The chief scientist of climateprediction.net, a worldwide computerized simulation involving more than 100,000 people from 150 countries, explains what they can and cannot tell us about planetary climate trends. Drought batters Australia: A brutal dry spell is testing the resilience of a country used to extremes National Post | by Anne Marie Owens | June 4, 2005 The view from Xavier Martin's family farm says everything about what the drought is doing to this country and why, despite a national pride rooted in making a go of it in one of the world's driest continents, Australians are worried. Australians are accustomed to experiencing the elements in epic proportions, but this year's extended drought, which comes on the heels of four years of below-normal rainfall, is testing their resilience. Frost-tolerant wheat to save farmers multi-millions Western Grains Research Foundation| June 2, 2005 Researchers achieved a new wheat to make Canada proud. "Saskhardy#8" is the first spring wheat with cold tolerance approaching that found in winter wheat, offering plant breeders the opportunity to develop varieties that could save farmers multi-millions in reduced frost damage. "This is a true Canadian wheat-one that has the hardiness and cold tolerance to survive the often harsh climate of our prairie growing area," says Dr. Brian Fowler of the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre (CDC). "Spring wheat varieties grown in Western Canada are damaged by exposure to even a slight frost. By contrast, this new wheat line can survive typical frosts without any significant damage." Manitoba deluge leaves farmland submerged, animals trapped, bridges damaged CP Wire| June 2, 2005 Cattle were left marooned on sudden islands, farmers were trapped on their properties, roads were washed out and bridges left clinging in place after a record deluge of rain hit parts of western Manitoba Thursday. Flash flood watches issued on Wednesday by Manitoba Water Stewardship were upgraded to warnings after up to 175 millimetres of rain fell in an 80-kilometre-wide swath from Melita to Oak Lake to Elphinstone over a 24-hour period ending Thursday. Record dry month hits farmers: Officials battle fires, warn residents to take precautions The North Bay Nugget | June 2005 Near drought conditions have gripped the area, withering crops, feeding forest fires and causing daily water consumption to soar. According to Environment Canada, May turned out to be a record-dry month for much of the province, including the North Bay area which hasn't been this parched in more than two decades. And the rainless skies, which have put fire officials on alert, have caused some local farmers to worry about a dismal harvest. |
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