Frost Could Put A Chill on Harvest

Aug 30, 2019

It is a four-letter word farmers never want to hear while there are still crops in the ground - frost.

Environment Canada is calling for the overnight low to dip down to +3° Thursday night, leading to them stating there is a risk of frost.

Cory Jacob is a crops extension specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture. He said the amount of damage the frost can cause is dependent on where the crop is in terms of development.

“Frost bursts plant cells, so we can see a lot of crop damage in terms of yield and quality,” Jacob explained, with an emphasis on the crops which are still maturing in the field. For producers who have already swathed, there is still some concern.

“It’s already mature enough the frost damage would be to a lesser extent than if the crop was still standing and at an early stage of crop growth.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.