Map: Good Weekend Rainfall for Some Prairie Areas; Others Left Wanting

Jun 25, 2025

Scattered but much-needed rainfall moved across the Canadian Prairies over the weekend, delivering heavy amounts to some locations, but leaving others still mostly dry.

As can be seen on the map below, portions of Alberta and Saskatchewan received over 65mm of rain, while areas eastward received gradually diminishing amounts. Areas north of Winnipeg – as well as north of Edmonton - received lighter amounts.

According to World Weather Inc., the most significant improvement in soil and crop conditions from the weekend moisture likely occurred in central and southern Alberta and west central through central Saskatchewan, “which was one of the driest areas previously.” However, more rain is still needed in southwestern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northeastern Saskatchewan, it added.

The rainfall was important, as Saskatchewan and Alberta crop reports this past week showed generally weak crop condition ratings, as well as diminishing topsoil and surface soil moisture levels. In some cases, crops were just barely hanging on amid dryness and drought.

Meanwhile, more rain is in the forecast for the Prairies for the next 10 days which should be beneficial for crop development, World Weather said. “Overall, crop conditions in the Prairies have improved and will continue to improve following the recent rain event.”

The latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor showed 72% of Prairie agricultural lands were being impacted by abnormal dryness or some form of drought as of the end of May. That is up sharply from 41% in April, 32% in March and 23% at the end of February.

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Video: Seeing the Whole Season: How Continuous Crop Modeling Is Changing Breeding

Plant breeding has long been shaped by snapshots. A walk through a plot. A single set of notes. A yield check at the end of the season. But crops do not grow in moments. They change every day.

In this conversation, Gary Nijak of AerialPLOT explains how continuous crop modeling is changing the way breeders see, measure, and select plants by capturing growth, stress, and recovery across the entire season, not just at isolated points in time.

Nijak breaks down why point-in-time observations can miss critical performance signals, how repeated, season-long data collection removes the human bottleneck in breeding, and what becomes possible when every plot is treated as a living data set. He also explores how continuous modeling allows breeding programs to move beyond vague descriptors and toward measurable, repeatable insights that connect directly to on-farm outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• What continuous crop modeling is and how it works

• Why traditional field observations fall short over a full growing season

• How scale and repeated measurement change breeding decisions

• What “digital twins” of plots mean for selection and performance

• Why data, not hardware, is driving the next shift in breeding innovation As data-driven breeding moves from research into real-world programs, this discussion offers a clear look at how seeing the whole season is reshaping value for breeders, seed companies, and farmers, and why this may be only the beginning.