wildfire smoke over cattle grazing outside calgary 2023

What we know about how wildfire smoke affects Prairie crops

Impacts depend on smoke quantity, plant progress, surrounding weather conditions

With nearly 100 active wildfires across the three Prairie provinces at this writing, farmers don’t have to go far to see and feel the effects of smoke in the atmosphere — but what this year’s crops will experience is a more complicated matter. If you’ve got time for some reading right now, here we’ve gathered […] Read more


The John Deere 535 baler that burned at the Eppich farm.

Counting one’s blessings after our baler burns

Eppich News: A baler fire is a reminder to be prepared and understand what to do in an emergency

On Sept. 5, our John Deere 535 baler went up in smoke. It is a big hit for our small operation, but we have much to be thankful for. As farmers we do dangerous things every day. Every day we are just going to go swath the wheat, or we are just going to combine, […] Read more

File photo of forest fire.

Jasper fires force trains to go slow 

CN has resumed service but at a reduced speed through the area    

The Canadian National Railway line through Jasper, Alta,. is open, but trains are moving slowly due to the wildfire that destroyed a significant part of the community this week. The implications for grain movement are unknown, but unloads are already down at the port of Vancouver.


A helicopter dumps water on a forest fire in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia.  Photo: Thinkstock

Canada forecasts hotter-than-average summer as peak wildfire season nears

Reuters – Canada is expecting a hotter-than-usual summer with slightly below-average precipitation in central Canada, government officials said on Tuesday, offering little relief from ongoing drought and the risk of another bad wildfire season. Last year, Canada experienced its worst-ever fire season, with more than 6,600 blazes burning 15 million hectares, an area roughly seven […] Read more

File photo of a CL 215 water bomber passing over a Canadian forest fire.

Stop blaming the boogeyman

In this column, I’d like to discuss two items, wildfires and economic efficiency, which at first glance appear unrelated, but are they? Once again, climate alarmists are using a truly unfortunate situation for political gain and justification of their anti-oil positions. Admittedly, in Figure 1, the 2023 data looks scary, but the overall graph is […] Read more


Water flows through a washed-out culvert on the CN rail mainline at Truro, N.S. on July 23, 2023. (Photo: Nigel Gloade/Millbrook First Nations/Handout via Reuters)

Nova Scotia farmers granted late AgriStability entry

Enrolment for 2023 now an option until Dec. 31, 2024

Nova Scotia farmers who aren’t in on AgriStability for 2023 and whose operations were hit hard by weather events this spring and/or summer now have until the end of next year to enroll. The Nova Scotia and federal governments on Friday announced enrolment for the ag income stabilization program, which ended on April 30, has […] Read more



The McDougall Creek wildfire burns outside West Kelowna, B.C. on Aug. 18, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

B.C. wildfires intensify, evacuation orders double

Rain helping slow fires near Yellowknife

Kelowna | Reuters — Forest fires in British Columbia intensified on Saturday, with the number of people under evacuation orders doubling from a day earlier, as authorities warned of difficult days ahead. The province declared a state of emergency on Friday to access temporary authoritative powers to tackle fire-related risks, as out-of-control fires ripped through […] Read more

Smoke rises from a wildfire near Wildwood, Alta., about 100 km west of Edmonton, on May 5, 2023. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)

Alberta farmers granted late AgriStability entry

Enrolment deadline now Sept. 29

Any Alberta producers who were considering AgriStability — but only in hindsight — for the income stabilization plan’s 2023 program year now have until Sept. 29 to apply. Ottawa and the province announced Aug. 4 that they’ve reopened the jointly-funded program, as wildfires and/or “extremely dry” growing conditions have dragged on many Alberta producers’ work […] Read more