PDAP to Provide Assistance on Grazing Lands Damaged by Wildfires

Dec 07, 2017

Government Relations Minister Larry Doke announced that the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) will provide financial assistance to grazing lands damaged by wildfires.

“Typically PDAP does not provide assistance for wildfire losses, because most fire losses are insurable,” Doke said. “However, tame and native grazing lands are not insurable. This adjustment will fill that gap and provide Saskatchewan producers with additional peace of mind, and help ensure that operations affected by wildfire can recover sooner.”

Producers that have suffered wildfire damages to “tame and native lands” intended for grazing can now apply for assistance providing feed to affected livestock. A claimant must meet all the program’s eligibility criteria which can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/PDAP#eligibility.

Earlier this fall, southwestern Saskatchewan experienced extreme winds as well as unprecedented grassfires which burned across more than 36,000 hectares of mixed-use farmland. While the majority of damages from the fires were insurable, PDAP conducted stakeholder consultations and identified some types of grazing lands that may qualify for assistance.

In November, the Government of Saskatchewan announced that it would be matching donations up to $100,000 to the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association Wildfire Relief Fund, which was created to help producers affected by the 2017 grassfires. People can donate by visiting www.skstockgrowers.com or calling 306-757-8523.

PDAP helps residents, small businesses, agricultural operations, First Nations, non-profit organizations and communities recover from natural disasters, including flooding, tornadoes, plow winds and other disasters caused by severe weather. PDAP may help cover the cost of uninsurable essential losses, cleanup, repairs and temporary relocation.

Source : Government of Saskatchewan

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.