Photo: Michelle Erickson-Jones/iStock/Getty Images

Prairie forecast: Winter settles in

Forecast issued Nov. 20, covering Nov. 20 to 27, 2024

You might be happy to know (or maybe not) that for this forecast period we should see a quieter but colder weather pattern across the Prairies. Arctic high pressure will be pulled southwards behind the eastern Prairie low and brings the first really taste of winter.





Marcus and Paige Dueck and their children Sutton, age 4 ½, and Brielle, age 1 ½, along with dog Stella and members of the family’s Brown Swiss dairy herd.

Marcus and Paige Dueck

Outstanding Young Farmers 2024: Finding that work-life equilibrium involves some trade-offs — and new technology

With dairy cattle, cash crops and two young children, the days are still pretty busy for Manitoba farmers Marcus and Paige Dueck — but new technology introduced in recent years has helped them be more efficient and find balance in their lives. For the Duecks, who are the third generation on Four Oak Farms near […] Read more

Photo: kahj19/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Prairie forecast: Mild weather returns

Forecast issued Nov. 6, covering Nov. 6 to 13, 2024

The weather models are showing an area of low pressure tracking across northern Canada on Wednesday and Thursday. This, combined with a digging trough of low pressure off the West Coast, will open the door for mild air to flood across the Prairies—first from the Pacific then from the western U.S.



Proper machine maintenance, cleaning and monitoring can help reduce the incidence of combine fires during harvest.

Take steps to prevent combine fires in sunflowers

In warm, dry, windy weather, cleaning, monitoring and maintenance become even more important

Row-crop harvest is in full swing across North Dakota, with many crops near completion. Weather conditions have been extremely warm and dry, allowing producers to harvest crops without the pressure to get the grains harvested before winter arrives. However, dry and warm conditions increase the risk of combine fires — especially when harvesting sunflowers. In […] Read more


A late-October cornfield in southeastern Manitoba. Photo: Geralyn Wichers

Prairie forecast: Warmer weather to continue

Forecast issued Oct. 30, covering Oct. 30 to Nov. 6, 2024

For this forecast period, as we work into what's often the first month of winter across the Prairies, it looks like the current warmer and drier-than-average pattern of the last two months will continue. Now, to be fair, we need to realize that we are transitioning into winter. Average temperatures are cooling, so though the forecasting is calling for above-average temperatures, those temperatures are getting cooler and cooler.

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Western Canadian calf market surges

For the week ending 26, Western Canadian calf markets were up $8-$12/cwt on average compared to seven days earlier. Pee-wee calves were up $20-$25/cwt compared to the prior week. Finishing feedlot operators were active buyers in all weight categories while backgrounders were cleaning up on smaller packages of calves under 550 pounds.