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Dufferin County wants better weather predictions for its farmers

Dufferin County wants better weather predictions for its farmers

Amaranth Council sent a letter to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

A southern Ontario town council is expressing concern over Environment and Climate Change Canada’s weather predicting service.

“An erosion of weather forecasting accuracy” by the Meterological Service of Canada is the subject of a letter from Dufferin County to the federal Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, according to the Orangeville Banner.

And some farmers have abandoned long-range forecasts altogether, according to Don MacIver, Mayor of Amaranth Township.

“We count on our long-range forecasts and when I say we, I’m talking about farmers,” he told the Orangeville Banner on Oct. 16. “They just don’t trust it. They don’t look at it anymore (and) I don’t think we should sit idly by and take what is given to us. I think we should be asking for a much better service.”

But as farmers know, Mother Nature can be fickle – especially during the summer, according to Geoff Coulson, warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada.

In the winter, in contrast, predicting the weather appears to be easier.

“As it gets closer to that (summer) day, the chance of some local instability can be introduced into the forecast as the actual day approaches,” he told the Orangeville Banner. “(In the winter,) we can see these things coming great distances away.”

Amaranth Council also agreed to send the letter to Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario.

Farms.com has reached out to Amaranth Mayor Don MacIver and the OFA for further comment on the letter and its specific concerns.


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Funds Ditch Ag Commodities, Chase Stocks Amid an End to Middle East War, & Trade Deal Buzz

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The 12-day war between Iran-Israel came to an end sending crude oil futures plunging as the big fund speculators removed the war risk premium.

The weather risk premium in the Ag complex is sending corn, wheat and soybean futures lower on month-end selling ahead of the market moving USDA quarterly grain stocks and acreage reports on June 30th.

Instead, funds were chasing and sending tech stocks higher with the S&P 500/NASDAQ indexes setting new all-time record highs!

June 1 USDA Hogs and pigs report was slightly bearish while the U.S. $ Index traded to new contract lows as the de-dollarization that began in 2014 continues.

Feed in the form of soybean meal futures for livestock producers got cheaper, trading to new contract lows.

The Stats Canada seeded acreage update was bullish canola and wheat.