Rural Roots Canada

A change in the weather pattern will bring a lot more moisture into western North America over the next seven to ten days. Unfortunately for Canadian prairie farmers and ranchers, the vast majority of that wet weather is expected to occur south of the border. from the northwestern US straight across to the northeastern US, bypassing us to the south. It doesn’t mean we won’t get any snow at all, but it does shut us out of the main moisture flow.

Ashley Nicholls from Reach Agricultural Strategies will lead a compelling workshop at the 2025 Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference (AWC). The workshop will focus on Low-Stress People Handling and the importance of effective communication on the farm.

Steve Larocque, a progressive farmer from Three Hills, Alberta, is passionate about finding smarter solutions to tackle one of agriculture's biggest challenges: herbicide-resistant weeds. For Larocque, the future lies in combining cultural practices with advanced technologies to create a more sustainable and economically viable approach to weed control.

It was an issue many thought had been settled, but the debate over open-pit mining in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes has been reignited. In 2020, public outcry forced the province to put a moratorium on nearly all new coal exploration and development in the Eastern Slopes. However, Alberta's energy minister, Brian Jean, lifted the moratorium last month to help reduce regulatory confusion around coal mining. Rancher Kelly Hall, owner of the Timber Ridge conservation site west of Nanton, worries about the potential contamination of the water supply if mining proceeds. "We're extremely concerned because of the health risks that are involved," says Hall. "Selenium and other heavy metals like arsenic could be present in our water system."

Alberta Canola growers have voted to increase the service charge from a dollar to a dollar-75. This is the first increase to the service charge, which helps fund research, grower extension and public engagement amongst other programs, to happen since 2003.

The latest findings from the Alltech 2024 Canadian Harvest Analysis reveal a mixed outlook for mycotoxin contamination in silage and grains across the country. While overall mycotoxin levels are down compared to previous years, regional variability remains a key concern, particularly for corn silage. Stuart McGregor, Vice President of Commercial Business for Alltech Canada, emphasized the importance of understanding the specific risks despite the overall decline in mycotoxins.

Welcome, La Nina La Nina is here, and cold weather will continue across the prairies this week, and there will be snow.   The snowfall pattern will be similar to what we've had all season. Areas that have had snow will get more.  And, dry areas, such as southern Alberta, will remain starved for moisture, as snow amounts over the next seven days will total only 10 cm at most. Here's an update on where we stand in terms of soil moisture as February begins.    This first map shows where soil moisture levels stand relative to normal.   Areas shaded in blue show higher or much higher than average soil moisture levels.  This includes southern Alberta east of highway 2, a portion of north-central Alberta, and in the Souris/Assiniboine/Red watersheds of southern Manitoba.   Areas in green show soil moisture levels near normal.  Yellow, orange and red regions are those where there is a moisture deficit.

Canadian ag groups are weighing in on the tariff crisis. Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on his tariff threat, slapping Canada with a 25% tariff on just about all goods effective Tuesday, February 4. Canada retaliated with 25% tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods.

Farmers and ranchers know it's hard enough to get a good snowpack in southern Alberta. With our frequent chinooks, keepng what little snow we get on the ground is even harder. And the January thaw doesn't help. The "January thaw", or the bonspiel thaw, is a weather phenomenon that happens in mid to late January as mild Pacific air stretches across North America. It’s like nature hits the pause button on winter, bringing a brief stretch of warmer weather. Snow starts melting, ice turns to slush, and people start to wonder if spring is showing up early (spoiler: it’s not). There's still a lot of mystery as to why it happens, but it's believed to be tied to natural variations in the jet stream, which can allow mild Pacific air to cross the country from west to east. The January thaw isn't all good. It can be damaging to crops and vegetation... as it can briefly disrupt the dormant winter cycle.

Warm and dry across the agricultural south.....then the pattern flips! For some, snow and cold is on the way. And by next weekend...yikes!

With the threat of U.S. tariffs hanging over Canada like the sword of Damocles, Alberta’s commodity groups including Alberta Canola are coordinating efforts to advocate against, and prepare for, tariffs. Roger Chevraux, Alberta Canola Region 11 director, says they’re working behind the scenes, contacting U.S. governors, senators, and representatives to emphasize the importance of the two countries' relationship regarding food. "We a big customer of their production, and they're a big customer of our production," Chevraux noted. "Food is important. If you put a tariff on it, it's going to cost your consumers a whole lot of money and you're going to have explain to them why the cost of food is going up."

Warmer weather returns to Alberta and Saskatchewan!  But in Manitoba, it's a long wait. Bitterly cold weather to start the day, with temperatures in the -30s and wind chills in the -40s east of Highway 2 and south of Edmonton. Elsewhere, morning lows will be near or in the -20s. However, this is the day of change for Alberta, as mild Pacific air begins to push in during the day. IF that warmer air remains aloft, an inversion will develop, and it will remain cold through the day, and smoggy in urban areas, particularly Calgary.

Karsten Grabler from Cherhill, Alberta and Garret Rice from Carbon, Alberta have been named the 2025 recipients of the Seed Smart Scholarship, a prestigious award from the Alberta Seed Processors (ASP) recognizing academic excellence and leadership in agriculture. Grabler, a student in the Animal Science Technology program majoring in Beef at Lakeland College in Vermilion, expressed his gratitude for the award. "I'm very fortunate and as well as glad to have won this," he said. "It will greatly benefit my further studies within this current program, as well as if I go on to further studies as well.

Digital technology, community, and craft beer have come together to brew a unique collaboration. Bayer Crop Science has named Irvin and Braden Eberle of Montmartre, Saskatchewan, as the winners of its FieldBrew contest, granting them the opportunity to craft a one-of-a-kind craft beer, FieldBrew, a play on its FieldView digital agriculture platform. In partnership with Origin Brewing & Malting Co. of Strathmore, Alberta, it’s the first-of-its-kind initiative connecting farm to glass. “It’s been a great opportunity,” says Braden. “It’s great to be involved with Origin and see how the product comes from the field directly into a beer can.” The Eberle family farm, I W Eberle Farms Ltd., will feature prominently on FieldBrew’s label as part of the prize. The Eberles, who operate a fourth-generation grain farm growing durum wheat, canola, and lentils, have been active users of the FieldView platform for the past four years. For more on this story go to ruralrootscanada.com.

Over the last twenty years or so, the most common question I have received is, "What weather app do you recommend?" And, over the last twenty years or so, my answer has been none of them. Most weather apps provide model output, computer generated forecasts unvetted by human meteorologists and many of us in the business call them crap apps. However, for farmers and ranchers, I’ve found a few apps that will actually be quite helpful. None of these are paid endorsements, just free suggestions.

It'll be mild until the weekend, then.....Yikes! As mentioned in last Thursday's midweek update, La Nina has arrived.  It was officially declared on January 9th, and is expected to persist for a few weeks, maybe into April.  The expectation is for La Nina to remain weak.    Prairie weather characteristics of La Nina events include colder than average weather, with above average snowfall.  It's a weak La Nina, and no specific forecasts can be made, but for the next two or three months, it's best to be prepared for cold, sometimes snowy weather.   And, just to give you a hint of the cold air that's likely on its way, this is a map showing expected temperatures in the early morning of Monday January 20.    It's a long way out, and this is not a specific forecast, but it does show temperatures as low as -30 C as far south as the mountains of Utah and Colorado, along with southern Saskatchewan.

After a cold snowy week across southern Alberta, we get a chinook this week.   Yes, it will be windy in all the usual places, especially between Lethbridge and Crowsnest Pass,  and it will be warmer.  There may be occasions this week, particularly Wednesday and maybe Thursday, that the temperature will climb close to ten degrees, but overall this should be an event with single digit highs in most areas for most days of this week.   It won’t be  quite warm enough, perhaps, to get rid of all the beneficial snow now on the ground.   How much snow disappears will depend on how much sunshine we get with the chinook wind.  A cloudy day with an air temperature of +4 isn't going to make the snow go away, because the snow’s temperature is still zero or below.   But, add some sunshine, and it’s a different story.  The wind warms the air, but it's the sun that warms the snow, and makes it melt or evaporate. Read the full forecast at Rural Roots Canada.com.

The Senate's Agriculture Committee has released its highly anticipated Critical Ground report on the state of soil health in Canada. We chat with one of the senators involved in the study coming up on Rural Roots Canada, where we amplify Canadian Agriculture. The Canadian Senate has released its much-awaited Critical Ground report looking at the state of soil health in Canada. Paula Simons, an independent senator representing Alberta in the Senate, says they visited farms across the country as part of the study. To read more about the story go to ruralrootscanada.com.

Medicine Hat College is making strides in agricultural education, with new, innovative programs designed to meet the needs of seasoned producers and the next generation of agribusiness professionals.

Technology has completely changed the way farmers and ranchers check cows during calving season. ONE Cup A-I is one of those companies pushing forward new tech that is changing the industry. Mokah Shimigelsky, Founder and COO of the company,  says their tech uses computer vision and artificial intelligence to uniquely identify animals and then track their behaviours and health to give information producers can act on. She says they have seen considerable growth in the last two years.