Relief for Some Thirsty Prairies Areas in April

Apr 29, 2021

The month of April may not have fixed all of the moisture deficits across Western Canada but it did provide at least some relief for parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

As can be seen on the map below, a large part of east-central Saskatchewan and eastern Manitoba received above normal precipitation during the month, the bulk of it coming thanks to spring storms that dropped as much as 20 to 30 cm of snow in some locations.

The resulting green areas on the map are welcome change from the past number of months, which featured predominately brown and red, denoting well below average precipitation. However, the longer-term maps still show chronic dryness that will require more sustained and widespread precipitation to finally eliminate.

As of the end of March, severe to extreme drought was impacting a large area extending east from Regina all the way to Winnipeg. Abnormal dryness and moderate drought was also impacting many other parts of the Prairies.

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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.