Comments - Crop Failure A Growing Reality - Earth Changes and the Pole Shift2024-03-19T11:00:41Zhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=3863141%3ABlogPost%3A862080&xn_auth=nohttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canad…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2021-08-14:3863141:Comment:11437852021-08-14T22:28:08.076ZKMhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/KarenMartel
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/drought-farmers-saskatchewan-1.6140472" target="_blank">https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/drought-farmers-saskatchewan-1.6140472</a></p>
<h1 class="detailHeadline" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Prairie farmers struggle as drought set to become among worst in Canadian history</h1>
<h1 class="detailHeadline" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">'Production is down to almost nothing,' Sask. farmer says…</span></h1>
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<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/drought-farmers-saskatchewan-1.6140472" target="_blank">https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/drought-farmers-saskatchewan-1.6140472</a></p>
<h1 class="detailHeadline" lang="en">Prairie farmers struggle as drought set to become among worst in Canadian history</h1>
<h1 class="detailHeadline" lang="en"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">'Production is down to almost nothing,' Sask. farmer says</span></h1>
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Farmer Derek Tallon stands in one of his lentil fields near Lafleche, Sask. Tallon is harvesting the worst crop he's ever grown and expects his overall production to drop by 75 per cent this year. Tallon says he is disappointed but accepts 'the inherent risks' of farming.<span> </span><br />
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Saskatchewan farmer Derek Tallon is harvesting one of the worst lentil crops he's ever grown.<br />
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<div class="story"><p>Like other farmers in the region, he watched his crops struggle to grow without much rain or reprieve from unrelenting heat during what one expert says is shaping up to be the worst drought in Canadian history.</p>
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<p>Tallon's farm in southern Saskatchewan only received about 50 millimetres of rain this year, compared to 190 millimetres during a normal year.</p>
<p>"This should probably be some of our weakest stuff," he said, scooping up a fistful of dried plants.</p>
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University of Saskatchewan Prof. John Pomeroy predicts more frequent and severe droughts in the Prairie region by the late 21st century.<span> </span><br />
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<p>"There's only a handful of lentils here. The grasshoppers have shelled out a lot of what was here on to the ground and chewed off a lot of the leaves. Production is down to almost nothing."</p>
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<p>The 40-year-old and his father farm about 16,000 acres near Lafleche, which is about 200 kilometres southwest of Regina. They grow a mix of grains, pulses and oil seeds.</p>
<p>They have only been able to produce five bushels of lentils an acre this year, a far cry from their long-term average of 27 bushels an acre, says Tallon.</p>
<p>"We are probably only at about a quarter of a normal crop [in this region], maybe in certain areas even less than that," he said.</p>
<p>Tallon says he is disappointed but accepts "the inherent risks" of farming.</p>
<h2>Drought could become worst in Canadian history</h2>
<p>This year's drought is on its way to becoming the worst the Prairies have ever recorded and the worst ever in Canada, according to John Pomeroy, Canada research chair in water resources and climate change at the University of Saskatchewan. It is already worse than a severe drought in 1961, he said.</p>
<p>"It's early to call it the most severe [drought] at this point, but it certainly has all the hallmarks of heading in that direction," Pomeroy said.</p>
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Canada is one of several areas in the world affected by droughts. To the south, severe droughts have hit the western half of the United States.<span> </span>(U.S. Drought Monitor)<br />
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<p>A decade-long drought hit Saskatchewan in the 1930s, but areas like northern Alberta and northern Saskatchewan were unaffected at the time, he said.</p>
<p>"There are no areas like that now," said Pomeroy.</p>
<p>Temperatures in July were three to four degrees hotter than normal while the amount of precipitation was one of the lowest on record, he said. </p>
<p>"When you combine those two, then it looks like the most severe drought is emerging ever experienced over the Prairies," he said.</p>
<p>The conditions extend beyond Canada, he said, with severe droughts in the western half of the United States, the Mediterranean region, Kazakhstan and Russia, as well as years of drought in Australia. </p>
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Heat, wind, grasshoppers and very little rain have resulted in major production loss for Saskatchewan farmers.<span> </span><br />
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<p>The consequences for food security could be "quite severe," he said.</p>
<p>Farmers who manage to squeeze out an average harvest this year could end up doing quite well as grain prices continue to soar, fuelled by low supply.</p>
<p>That's giving Tallon something to look forward to.</p>
<p>"We could be looking at high grain prices next season and that's our hope right now — we grow a crop next year and we capitalize on the price increases we've seen," said Tallon.</p>
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<h2>'Crop failure on our hands'</h2>
<p>About 25 kilometres east, near the village of Limerick, farmer Barry Reisner also tries to remain positive.</p>
<p>"Farmers are resilient," he said. "We've had a number of good crops in the last 10 years or so, and it shouldn't be a surprise that they can't all be good."</p>
<p>In his 50 years of farming, Reisner says he has learned to accept the bad with the good, and to manage risks with insurance and other strategies.</p>
<p>Still, it's tough to swallow.</p>
<p>"We just haven't had enough rain to produce a crop, so we have a crop failure on our hands," he said. "It's hard to see your efforts going down the drain."</p>
<p>He says he worries about other farmers who may face financial penalties after signing contracts guaranteeing shipments and price with grain companies months ago.</p>
<p>"Farmers who have signed those contracts don't have the grain to deliver, and they have a commitment that they can't meet," said Reisner.</p>
<p>This is already the second severe drought Saskatchewan has experienced since the start of the century, after one in 2001-2002.</p>
<p>The future for farmers remains uncertain, with predictions of more extreme droughts as well as floods.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: line-through;">"Under some of the business-as-usual scenarios, it shows Saskatchewan warming up by six to seven degrees by the end of the century from what we are now, which is already too warm," said Pomeroy.</span></p>
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</div> https://www.wsj.com/articles/…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2021-07-14:3863141:Comment:11427672021-07-14T13:20:23.246ZTracie Crespohttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/TracieCrespo
<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/coffee-prices-soar-after-bad-harvests-and-insatiable-demand-11626093703" target="_blank">https://www.wsj.com/articles/coffee-prices-soar-after-bad-harvests-and-insatiable-demand-11626093703</a></p>
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<div class="zonedModule"><div class="wsj-article-headline-wrap"><h1 class="wsj-article-headline">Coffee Prices Soar After Bad Harvests and Insatiable Demand</h1>
<h2 class="sub-head">Global consumption set to exceed production this year as Brazil is hit with…</h2>
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<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/coffee-prices-soar-after-bad-harvests-and-insatiable-demand-11626093703" target="_blank">https://www.wsj.com/articles/coffee-prices-soar-after-bad-harvests-and-insatiable-demand-11626093703</a></p>
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<div class="zonedModule"><div class="wsj-article-headline-wrap"><h1 class="wsj-article-headline">Coffee Prices Soar After Bad Harvests and Insatiable Demand</h1>
<h2 class="sub-head">Global consumption set to exceed production this year as Brazil is hit with worst drought-driven drop in output in almost 20 years</h2>
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<h4 class="wsj-article-caption-content">Brazil’s coffee farmers were expecting a relatively weak harvest this year, but the drought has made it worse.</h4>
<span class="wsj-article-credit article__inset__image__caption__credit"><span class="wsj-article-credit-tag">PHOTO:<span> </span></span>IGOR DO VALE/ZUMA PRESS</span><br />
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<div class="article-content"><div class="media-object type-InsetArticleReader inline article__inset article__inset--type-InsetArticleReader article__inset--inline"><div class="media-object-article-reader"><div class="audioplayer" id="articlereader"><div class="audio-player-inner" id="audio-tag-inner-articlereader"><div class="controls-container"><div class="start-title-wrapper"><div class="start-title-description">Global coffee prices are climbing and threatening to drive up costs at the breakfast table as the world’s biggest coffee producer, Brazil, faces one of its worst droughts in almost a century.</div>
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<p>Prices for arabica coffee beans—the main variety produced in Brazil—hit their highest level since 2016 last month. New York-traded arabica futures have risen over 18% in the past three months to $1.51 a pound. London-traded robusta—a stronger-tasting variety favored in instant coffee—has risen over 30% in the past three months, to $1,749 a metric ton, a two-year high.</p>
<div class="paywall"><p>Brazil’s farmers are girding for one of their biggest slumps in output in almost 20 years after months of drought left plants to wither. Brazil’s arabica crop cycles between one stronger year followed by a weaker year. Following a record harvest in 2020, 2021 was set to be a weaker year, but the drop is more severe than expected.</p>
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<p>“I’ve been growing coffee more than 50 years, and I’ve never seen as bad a drought as the one last year and this year,” said Christina Valle, a third-generation coffee grower in Minas Gerais, Brazil’s biggest coffee-growing state. “I normally take three months to harvest my coffee; this year it took me a month,” she said.</p>
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<p>Brazil’s total coffee harvest this year is expected to drop by the biggest year-over-year amount since 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its arabica crop is forecast to be almost 15 million 132-pound bags smaller than in 2020.</p>
<p>Others are guarding for an even larger slump. Dutch agricultural bank Rabobank expects the harvest to be 17 million bags smaller, while commodities brokerage ED&F Man, whose Volcafe arm is one of the world’s largest coffee traders, expects a decline of more than 23 million bags.</p>
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<p>“A drop that severe is unprecedented,” said Kona Haque, head of research at ED&F Man.</p>
<p>The pandemic shook up<span> </span><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/coffee-drinkers-stay-home-hitting-some-beans-harder-than-others-11596453907?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" class="icon none" rel="noopener">how consumers drink coffee</a>. Demand for at-home machines and instant brews rose, compensating somewhat for closed coffee shops. The price rally comes just as Western nations are emerging from lockdowns and cafes are welcoming back customers starved of out-of-home coffee culture.</p>
<p>Global coffee consumption is expected to exceed production this year for the first time since 2017, according to the USDA. The department expects 165 million bags of beans to be consumed in 2021. That is 1.8 million bags more than last year. Meanwhile, global coffee production is expected to decline to 164.8 million bags.</p>
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<p>There are other factors behind the price rally. Two other major producing nations, Colombia and Vietnam, have had much better harvests than Brazil but are struggling with a different issue: Port delays have left beans sitting idle on the dock.</p>
<p>Exports of Colombian coffee, particularly desired by baristas for its milder flavor, fell as antigovernment protesters blocked highways and ports. A shortage of shipping containers and<span> </span><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/container-ship-prices-skyrocket-as-rush-to-move-goods-picks-up-11625482800?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" class="icon none" rel="noopener">rocketing freight costs</a><span> </span>hit Vietnamese farmers, who produce more than a third of the world’s supply of robusta.</p>
<p>“The whole supply chain suffered not only a significant increase in costs but also massive delays,” said Carlos Mera, head of agri-commodities market research at Rabobank. Unlike other commodities, which can be shipped on bulk carriers, coffee can only be moved around the globe in containers, he said.</p>
<p>Investors are also playing a role, betting that commodities will benefit from rising prices generally. Some investors bid up the price of coffee by putting money in commodity index funds that track broad baskets of commodities from industrial metals to coffee and cocoa, said Mr. Mera.</p>
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<div class="video-thumb" id="video-thumb-EE25EE9F-107E-464E-93E6-9D7A7D9E7141"><div class="base__vidThumb_1ClPgLDBgLr-7YsvMmn-sY"><div class="base__videoThumbContent_3Kb4OYgEfuuLpg9LXT8b69"><img class="base__videoThumbImg_1clHXjbP_aRS55gpoYwjW2" alt="Your Coffee Is Getting More Expensive. Here’s Why" src="https://m.wsj.net/video/20210429/042921pricecoffee/042921pricecoffee_960x540.jpg"/><div class="base__videoThumbText_1PRf5FdWQbSwLGFnet8uCa"><span class="base__videoTitle_3REXSZqJQDsfabpaaSWGAf">Your Coffee Is Getting More Expensive. Here’s Why</span></div>
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Coffee prices are heating up, and experts say an even bigger price hike could be coming. WSJ explains the web of economic forces that help determine the cost of coffee. Illustration: Mallory Brangan/WSJ<br />
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<p>“There is a lot of money right now that is very keen on holding commodities as real assets, as hedges against inflation,” he said.</p>
<p>Coffee roasters have so far held off from passing higher prices on to consumers, said Ms. Haque. The higher costs of beans coupled with higher freight costs could mean roasters start charging consumers more if they think post-lockdown demand will be strong, she said.</p>
<div class="media-object type-InsetRichText wrap scope-web article__inset article__inset--type-InsetRichText article__inset--wrap"><div class="media-object-rich-text"><h4>In Brazil, farmers say their stockpiles left over from last year’s bumper crop are dwindling and they are concerned they could run out before next year’s harvest begins.</h4>
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<p>“We’re a bit worried about having enough to sell next year,” said José Marcos Magalhães, president of the Minasul coffee cooperative. The cooperative is urging members to deliver whatever coffee they have to the cooperative so that it can keep meeting its orders, he said.</p>
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<p>Coffee lovers could still find a reprieve. Brazil’s spring rains, which typically fall in September, will be crucial for determining whether damaged coffee plants can recover and produce enough beans during next year’s harvest, said Steve Pollard, a coffee analyst at brokerage Marex.</p>
<p>The alternative could see prices rise even higher, he said. Coffee plants take about 2½ years to develop, and farmers can’t respond quickly by simply planting more crops. “If there is a significant deficit then prices could skyrocket,” he said.</p>
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<h4 class="wsj-article-caption-content">Dry river banks next to a coffee plantation show the extent of the recent drought in Brazil’s biggest coffee-producing state, Minas Gerais.</h4>
<span class="wsj-article-credit article__inset__image__caption__credit"><span class="wsj-article-credit-tag">PHOTO:<span> </span></span>JONNE RORIZ/BLOOMBERG NEWS</span><br />
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</div> https://watchers.news/2021/06…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2021-06-28:3863141:Comment:11422202021-06-28T15:00:44.442ZKMhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/KarenMartel
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<h1>80 percent of 2021 peach crop destroyed by frost, Hungary…</h1>
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<h1>80 percent of 2021 peach crop destroyed by frost, Hungary</h1>
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<p><img class="full" src="https://watchers.news/data/thumbs/798_296/2021/06/frost-by-scott-feldstein-f.jpg" alt="80 percent of 2021 peach crop destroyed by frost, Hungary" title="80 percent of 2021 peach crop destroyed by frost, Hungary"/></p>
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<div class="article-holder"><div class="article-content"><div class="article-text"><p><strong>About 80% of the 2021 peach crop in Hungary has been destroyed by spring frost, the National Agriculture Chamber said.</strong></p>
<p>"Hungary is good for growing peaches, but only the right types, in the right places and with the proper farming technology," said Béla Mártonffy, head of the chamber's orchard section.</p>
<p>"Orchard growers need to gradually change over to types of peaches that can stand up better to the challenge of global climate change, he added.</p>
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</div> Intense Derecho Flattens 10 M…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2020-08-12:3863141:Comment:11065272020-08-12T15:58:26.766ZHowardhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/Howard
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<p><strong>Intense Derecho Flattens 10 Million Acres of Iowa Farmland, 43% of Corn and Soybean Crop</strong> (Aug 11) </p>
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<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7430418656?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7430418656?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>A rare powerful storm system roared across the Midwest this week, killing at least two people and also causing widespread damage to millions of acres of crops in Iowa.</p>
<p>The "intense derecho" traveled from southeast South Dakota all the way to Ohio, a path of <strong>770 miles in 14 hours</strong>. <strong>Winds of 112 miles per hour</strong> were recorded in Midway, near Cedar Rapids, Iowa.</p>
<p>When the system reached Des Moines, Iowa, wind gusts were clocked at more than 100 mph, flattening millions of acres of crops and destroying grain silos.</p>
<p>“This morning I had a farmer reach out to me to say this was the worst wind damage to crops and farm buildings that he has ever seen across the state in such a wide area,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Reynolds said early estimates indicate 10 million acres (4 million hectares) have been damaged in the nation’s top corn-producing state and many grain bins were destroyed. That's nearly a third of the roughly 31 million acres (12.5 million hectares) of land farmed in the state sustained damage from the derecho.</p>
<p>According to data from the USDA, 23.4 million acres were seeded with corn and soybeans this spring.</p>
<p>By early estimates that would mean some 43 percent of Iowa’s 2020 corn and soybean crop has been damaged or destroyed by the violent storm system.</p>
<p>The most significant damage is to the corn crop, which is in the advanced stages of development, nearly a month away from the beginning of harvest.</p>
<p>In Jasper County, farmer Brian Rumbaugh said the storm flattened most of his 450 acres of corn, <strong>something he's never seen in his 50 years of farming.</strong></p>
<p>“This is the worst one I've ever had,” he said. “We had tornadoes go through a while back, tornadoes 300-400 feet wide, (but) this was everything.”</p>
<p>Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said tens of millions of bushels worth of commercial grain storage and millions of bushels of on-farm grain storage has been damaged or destroyed.</p>
<p>Iowa officials reported roofs torn off homes and buildings, vehicles were blown off roads and hit by trees, and people hurt by flying debris. One death and dozens of injuries were reported in the state.</p>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of residents in Iowa's three largest cities remained without electricity on Wednesday, two days after the rare wind storm.</p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/derecho-iowa-crop-land-farmland-midwest-damage-severe-weather-corn-soybean-disaster-10-million" target="_blank">https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/derecho-iowa-crop-land-farmland-midwest-damage-severe-weather-corn-soybean-disaster-10-million</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thehour.com/news/article/Hundreds-of-thousands-without-power-days-after-15478187.php" target="_blank">https://www.thehour.com/news/article/Hundreds-of-thousands-without-power-days-after-15478187.php</a></p> http://endoftheamericandream.…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2019-11-12:3863141:Comment:11027772019-11-12T14:03:54.851ZKMhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/KarenMartel
<p><a href="http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/officials-are-using-the-word-disaster-to-describe-the-widespread-crop-failures-that-are-happening-all-over-america" target="_blank">http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/officials-are-using-the-word-disaster-to-describe-the-widespread-crop-failures-that-are-happening-all-over-america</a></p>
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<h1 class="entry-title">Officials Are Using The Word “Disaster” To Describe The Widespread Crop Failures Happening All Over America…</h1>
<p><a href="http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/officials-are-using-the-word-disaster-to-describe-the-widespread-crop-failures-that-are-happening-all-over-america" target="_blank">http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/officials-are-using-the-word-disaster-to-describe-the-widespread-crop-failures-that-are-happening-all-over-america</a></p>
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<h1 class="entry-title">Officials Are Using The Word “Disaster” To Describe The Widespread Crop Failures Happening All Over America</h1>
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<div class="entry-content"><p><a href="http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/officials-are-using-the-word-disaster-to-describe-the-widespread-crop-failures-that-are-happening-all-over-america/corn-snow-public-domain#main" rel="attachment wp-att-10408"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-10408" src="http://endoftheamericandream.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Corn-Snow-Public-Domain-600x400.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400"/></a>We are witnessing “unprecedented” crop failures all across the United States, but the big mainstream news networks are not talking too much about this yet. As you will see below, local news outlets all over the nation are reporting the disasters that are taking place in their own local areas, but very few people are putting the pieces of the puzzle together on a national level. The endless rain and horrific flooding during the early months of this year resulted in tremendous delays in getting crops planted in many areas, and now snow and bitterly cold temperatures are turning harvest season into a complete and utter nightmare all over the country. I am going to share with you a whole bunch of examples below, but first I wanted to mention the snow and bitterly cold air that are rolling through the middle of the nation<span> </span><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/veterans-day-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-christmas-as-cold-sweeps-nation-freeze-coming-to-florida/ar-BBWAMr6" title="right now" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">right now</a>…</p>
<blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">A wintry weather pattern that brought single-digit temperatures and more than a foot of snow to parts of the Upper Midwest rolled across a wide swath of the nation Monday,<span> </span><a class="gnt_ar_b_a" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/10/hundreds-records-could-fall-cold-sweeps-across-u-s/2554694001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="threatening to break hundreds of records and bring a deep freeze">threatening to break hundreds of records and bring a deep freeze</a><span> </span>as far south as Florida.</p>
<p class="gnt_ar_b_p">“The coldest surge of arctic air so far this season will bring widespread record low temperatures for much of the central and eastern U.S. even down to the Gulf Coast,” said Kwan-Yin Kong, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.</p>
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<p>We are being told that<span> </span><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/11/veterans-day-weather-snow-record-breaking-cold-sweep-nation/2560318001/" title="“more than 300 daily records”" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“more than 300 daily records”</a><span> </span>are likely to be broken, and this will be the final nail in the coffin for this harvest season for countless numbers of farmers.</p>
<p>And even without this latest wave of bitterly cold weather, this was already going to be the worst year for U.S. agriculture that most people can remember. The following are 12 examples of the crop disasters that we are witnessing right now…</p>
<p>#1<span> </span><a href="https://www.agweek.com/business/agriculture/4678804-disaster-declaration-approved-nd-ag-producers" title="North Dakota" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">North Dakota</a>: “Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has approved North Dakota’s request for a Secretarial<span> </span><strong>disaster</strong><span> </span>designation for 47 counties related to late season rainfall and the October snowstorm. The declaration came on Friday, Nov. 8, the same day that Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., hosted Bill Northey, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s under secretary for farm production and conservation, to hear from producers at a roundtable and see the impacts of flooding and the early blizzard during a field tour in the Red River Valley.”</p>
<p>#1<span> </span><a href="http://www.startribune.com/walz-seeks-agriculture-disaster-declaration-for-nw-minnesota/564616032/" title="Northwest Minnesota" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Northwest Minnesota</a>: “Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz asked the U.S. agriculture secretary on Thursday to declare a<span> </span><strong>disaster</strong><span> </span>for 12 counties of northwestern Minnesota where farmers are struggling through a very difficult harvest season. The governor said in a letter to Secretary Sonny Perdue that unrelenting bad weather has come on top of challenges farmers were already facing from low commodity prices and trade uncertainties. He told Purdue how the region’s crops have fallen victim to flooding, disease and freezing temperatures, leaving many producers unable to harvest them.”</p>
<p>#1<span> </span><a href="https://globegazette.com/news/local/trifecta-of-disaster-unfolding-for-north-iowa-farmers-snow-cold/article_e2e893e5-c182-5d83-8ca3-2ea7ba49ee37.html" title="Iowa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Iowa</a>: “Last week, according to the Iowa weekly growing season report for the week ending Nov. 3, Iowa’s average temperature was 33 degrees, 12.6 degrees below normal, and with the southerly dip in the jet stream came multiple fast-moving winter-type systems through Iowa during the week, bringing a statewide average of 2.4 inches of snow. Mason City farmer Kevin Pope said with the early snow,<span> </span><strong>all harvest has been halted</strong>.”</p>
<p>#1<span> </span><a href="https://www.daytondailynews.com/business/crop-loss-area-counties-declared-natural-disaster-areas/GbhnoWQym8GTMvpDkSRPLI/" title="Ohio" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ohio</a>: Three local counties are among the 14 in Ohio that the United States Department of Agriculture said are primary natural<span> </span><strong>disaster</strong><span> </span>areas. Champaign, Clark and Miami counties were added to a growing list of designated primary natural disaster areas, which means farmers in those counties can apply for disaster loans. Farmers are eligible only if they suffered a 30% loss in crop production or a physical loss of livestock, livestock products and real estate.</p>
</div> Copied from Sociological Chan…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2019-10-04:3863141:Comment:11017812019-10-04T03:59:42.115ZStarr DiGiacomohttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/Starr
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Copied from Sociological Changes blog</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Comment by <a class="fn url" href="https://poleshift.ning.com/profile/JuanFMartinez">Juan F Martinez</a> 9 hours ago</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Food Crisis 2019: It’s Looking Bad, Bad, Bad at a Global Level</strong></span></p>
<p><span class="td-post-date">Oct 3, 2019</span> As…</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Copied from Sociological Changes blog</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Comment by <a href="https://poleshift.ning.com/profile/JuanFMartinez" class="fn url">Juan F Martinez</a> 9 hours ago</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Food Crisis 2019: It’s Looking Bad, Bad, Bad at a Global Level</strong></span></p>
<p><span class="td-post-date">Oct 3, 2019</span> As shown in an article by CNBC, China’s hog herd may drop by 55% from fatal swine fever. Knowing that China is the #1 pork producer. That’s a pretty devastating news. To add fuel to the fire, the deadly African Swine Fever has currently been testified in 36 countries around the world, spreading all over Southeast Asia, through parts of Europe, and has been found in Africa too.</p>
<p>Unusually long-lasting and deadly mon<span class="text_exposed_show">soons in India are leading to widespread crop failures in the nation. India is one of the top exporters of onions globally, selling 2.2 billion kilograms overseas. After the prolonged monsoon rains, India has decided to ban its onion export. The extended monsoon has also damaged key kharif crops, including pulses, oilseeds and cotton, as well as soy beans in India. Since September 2019, food prices have soared by more than 200% in the country.</span></p>
<div class="text_exposed_show"><p>Australia will be hit by unusually high temperatures and dry weather in the next 3 months. And this is really bad for its already struggling agricultural sector. Australia’s wheat exports are in real bad shape and the future isn’t bright at all.</p>
<p>And it is not looking better for Indonesia, where wildfires, smoke and drought are inflicting an increasingly painful toll on its agriculture, hurting everything from oil palm plantations to rubber trees and rice fields. Indonesia is the world’s top producer of palm oil and second-largest supplier of rubber.</p>
<p>The orange greening disease which is on track to destroy Florida’s orange crop (#1 citrus producer in the U.S.) has now finally reached California, the nation’s #2 citrus producer.</p>
<p>I am not sure about updates from the U.S. Midwest crop which was significantly delayed in planting because of flooding this spring, but the rare October heatwave in the Southeast and Midwest threatens crops, with some total losses reported in South Carolina. Meanwhile, the price of soy bean soars in the U.S.</p>
<p>If you missed this one, there is a fatal banana fungus that which will inevitably wipe out Cavendish banana crop likely within 10 years.</p>
<p><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3642790879?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full" width="705" height="396"/></p>
<p><a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://strangesounds.org/2019/10/food-crisis-food-shortage-world-bad-farming-weather-business.html" target="_blank">https://strangesounds.org/2019/10/food-crisis-food-shortage-world-b...</a></p>
<p><a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/03/african-swine-fever-chinas-pig-population-may-drop-by-55percent.html" target="_blank">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/03/african-swine-fever-chinas-pig-popu...</a></p>
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2019 is the year when…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2019-04-12:3863141:Comment:10988932019-04-12T15:07:09.409ZKMhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/KarenMartel
<p><a href="https://www.thebigwobble.org/2019/04/2019-is-year-when-farming-industry.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR2xIXlv9OKBT_Bv6tPlS4-gcbR4yYrfM_RLb5m7eNZvu0bhHqxdYjhsy0g" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Source</a></p>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">2019 is the year when the farming industry began to unravel as extreme weather and disease is hitting already stressed farmers around the world…</h3>
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<p><a href="https://www.thebigwobble.org/2019/04/2019-is-year-when-farming-industry.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR2xIXlv9OKBT_Bv6tPlS4-gcbR4yYrfM_RLb5m7eNZvu0bhHqxdYjhsy0g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a></p>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">2019 is the year when the farming industry began to unravel as extreme weather and disease is hitting already stressed farmers around the world</h3>
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<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2931110344352469394"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="separator"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yy_pm6gve94/XLBdQlTZYCI/AAAAAAAArGA/9681oyacFVgtZBkuIeOsSHwH6r8336TswCLcBGAs/s1600/An_MH-53M_Pave_Low_IV_helicopter_approaches_the_refueling_basket_of_an_MC-130P_Combat_Shadow.jpg"><img border="0" height="726" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yy_pm6gve94/XLBdQlTZYCI/AAAAAAAArGA/9681oyacFVgtZBkuIeOsSHwH6r8336TswCLcBGAs/s640/An_MH-53M_Pave_Low_IV_helicopter_approaches_the_refueling_basket_of_an_MC-130P_Combat_Shadow.jpg" width="940"/></a></div>
Photo Wikipedia showing the Mozambique flooding 2019<br/><br/>2019, will be the year when the farming industry began to unravel as China, who produce half of the world's pork is set to drop by almost one-third because 200 million pigs are to be culled or die from being infected as African swine fever spreads through the country.<br/>According to Rabobank, China’s pork production is seen at around 38 million tonnes in 2019 versus 54 million tonnes last year, Sherrard told Reuters, citing the company’s latest forecast.<br/>That would be the lowest level in at least 20 years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics data, with repercussions across the global market for all animal proteins.<br/>The decline would be nearly 30 per cent larger than annual output in the United States and equivalent to Europe’s yearly pork supply, Rabobank said.<br/>The United States Department of Agriculture has forecast a smaller decline in China’s pork output this year, of around 10 per cent.<br/><br/>
<div class="separator"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ze8sG6MAtpM/XLBeDl8idKI/AAAAAAAArGI/uGO8i-Vm4lkeK4cb-LLihoIPW9jgsNoeQCLcBGAs/s1600/18flood-600.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ze8sG6MAtpM/XLBeDl8idKI/AAAAAAAArGI/uGO8i-Vm4lkeK4cb-LLihoIPW9jgsNoeQCLcBGAs/s1600/18flood-600.jpg"/></a></div>
Credit myrichmblog.wordpress.com 2019 is now officially the worst agricultural disaster in modern American history with catastrophic flooding.<br/>The US is experiencing unprecedented and catastrophic flooding with NOAA issuing a warning the flooding will continue through to the end of June.<br/>With more than 90% of the upper midwest and great planes still covered by nearly 11 inches of snow and all that snow is beginning to melt.<br/>That means the US will transform from one of the worst winters in modern history into a flood season that has already taken an apocalyptic turn for farmers across the US.<br/>Millions of acres of farmland are already under water meaning thousands of farmers will not be able to plant crops this summer, with thousands of more farmers who have been financially ruined by the floods and will never return to farming again.<br/><br/>I Australia, after years of drought, 2019, has delivered the hottest January ever, the wettest February ever, the hottest start to Autumn in 30 years and the hottest March heatwave in 52 years hitting already struggling Aussie farmers hard.<br/>Thousands of cattle were lost in the first three months of this year.<br/><br/>In the first 4 months of 2019, heatwaves in the southern hemisphere are killing wildlife ‘on a biblical scale’ from record-breaking heat.<br/>Record heat in Australia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil with NASA and NOAA claiming the last 5 years have been the warmest since modern records began.<br/>The intense heat in Uruguay that affected the country in 2019 did not affect only human beings, who persistently complained about the thermal sensations through social networks, chicken farmers, in particular, suffered the heat stroke in its economy when more than 100,000 chickens died by high temperatures in Montevideo,<br/>Thousands of cattle died as temperatures hit 45 deg C, (110 deg F) early in 2019 in Argentina.<br/>High temperatures, humidity and the suspicion of toxins in the food as a predisposing factor caused the death of thousands of cattle in at least four Santa Fe feedlots, Argentina at the beginning of 2019.<br/><br/>Iran's farmers have had farms destroyed by unprecedented floods which have killed more than 70 people, destroyed or damaged 100,000 homes and damaged one-third of the country's roads. thousands of cattle are thought to have been killed in the floods.<br/><br/>2019, South-East Africa.<br/>It has been described as a 'disaster on a scale we have ever experienced'<br/>The full scope of devastation across three African nations may not be known for months to come after the Cyclone Idai death toll approaches 1,000.<br/>As well as the immediate threat caused by flooding, hunger and illness are growing concerns, with crops and wildlife destroyed and waterborne diseases likely to spread.<br/><br/></div>
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</div> At Least 1 Million Acres Of U…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2019-03-31:3863141:Comment:10988452019-03-31T03:29:48.443ZHowardhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/Howard
<p><strong>At Least 1 Million Acres Of US Farmland Devastated By Floods</strong> (Mar 30) </p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1728058470?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1728058470?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> We have never seen anything like this before.</p>
<p>According to satellite data that was just released by Reuters, “at least 1 million acres of U.S. farmland” were covered by water for at least seven days this month. That is an agricultural disaster without equal…</p>
<p><strong>At Least 1 Million Acres Of US Farmland Devastated By Floods</strong> (Mar 30) </p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1728058470?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1728058470?profile=RESIZE_710x"/></a>We have never seen anything like this before.</p>
<p>According to satellite data that was just released by Reuters, “at least 1 million acres of U.S. farmland” were covered by water for at least seven days this month. That is an agricultural disaster without equal in modern American history.</p>
<p>Farming communities all over the central part of the nation now look like war zones as a result of all this flooding. And with more flooding on the way for the next two months, this crisis is only going to get worse.</p>
<p>This is the time of year when farmers are gearing up to plant wheat, corn and soybeans, and now a substantial portion of our farmland will not be able to be used at all this year. According to Reuters, at least a million acres of farmland were covered by floodwaters for at least seven days this month, and that “will likely reduce corn, wheat and soy production this year”…</p>
<p>At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the “bomb cyclone” storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month, satellite data analyzed by Gro Intelligence for Reuters showed.</p>
<p>Farms from the Dakotas to Missouri and beyond have been under water for a week or more, possibly impeding planting and damaging soil. The floods, which came just weeks before planting season starts in the Midwest, will likely reduce corn, wheat and soy production this year.</p>
<p>And with “<strong>as many as a million calves</strong>” lost to the flooding, a lot less food than anticipated is going to be produced in the United States for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p><strong>Between March 8th and March 21st, almost 1.1 million acres of cropland and over 84,000 acres of pastureland were covered by water for at least a week.</strong> With more rain on the way, it is essentially going to be impossible for most of those acres to be usable this year.</p>
<p>In Iowa, 474,271 acres were covered by floodwaters for at least seven days in March, and Iowa farmers are facing some very tough deadlines. Corn must be planted by May 31st and soybeans must be planted by June 15th in order to qualify for flood insurance. For most Iowa farms that were covered by floodwaters, that is going to be impossible.</p>
<p>Overall, the recent flooding caused “at least $3 billion” in economic damage according to authorities, but many believe that the final number will be far higher.</p>
<p><strong>Thousands upon thousands of farms have been completely destroyed, and thousands upon thousands of farmers will not plant any crops at all this year.</strong></p>
<p>In addition to the vast agricultural devastation that we have witnessed, thousands upon thousands of homes have been destroyed as well, and now <strong>the National Ground Water Association is warning that “the safety of more than a million private water wells” could be compromised</strong>…</p>
<p>Record flooding in the Midwest is now threatening the safety of more than a million private water wells. The National Ground Water Association estimates that people living in more than 300 counties across 10 states have their groundwater threatened from bacterial and industrial contamination carried by flood waters.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. According to the NOAA, we are entering an “unprecedented flood season” that could potentially “impact an even bigger area of cropland”…</p>
<p>Spring floods could yet impact an even bigger area of cropland. The U.S. government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned of what could be an “unprecedented flood season” as it forecasts heavy spring rains. Rivers may swell further as a deep snow pack in northern growing areas melts.</p>
<p>From the Central Plains to the Midwest, it has been a disastrous spring for river flooding. A weather system slated to bring more heavy rains Friday into Saturday could aggravate the situation along and near the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.</p>
<p>It’s a one-two punch that combines additional rainwater with fresh runoff from snowmelt. Perhaps worst off is Nebraska, in the direct path of Friday’s quick burst of moisture. Barely a week has passed since Gov. Pete Ricketts estimated the cost of ongoing flooding in that state at more than $1 billion.</p>
<p>This is already the worst agricultural disaster in modern American history, and federal authorities are telling us that we should expect things to continue to get worse for at least two more months.</p>
<p><strong>Source</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/midwest-apocalypse-according-to-satellite-data-at-least-1-million-acres-of-u-s-farmland-have-been-devastated-by-floods" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/midwest-apocalypse-acco...</a></p> https://www.ctvnews.ca/busine…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2018-12-04:3863141:Comment:10962362018-12-04T01:09:47.003ZKMhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/KarenMartel
<p><a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/potato-shortage-looms-due-to-harvest-from-hell-after-unseasonable-weather-1.4200643" target="_blank">https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/potato-shortage-looms-due-to-harvest-from-hell-after-unseasonable-weather-1.4200643</a></p>
<div class="playa-headline"><h1 class="articleHeadline">Potato shortage looms due to 'harvest from hell' after unseasonable weather…</h1>
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<p><a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/potato-shortage-looms-due-to-harvest-from-hell-after-unseasonable-weather-1.4200643" target="_blank">https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/potato-shortage-looms-due-to-harvest-from-hell-after-unseasonable-weather-1.4200643</a></p>
<div class="playa-headline"><h1 class="articleHeadline">Potato shortage looms due to 'harvest from hell' after unseasonable weather</h1>
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<div class="articleBody"><p>Farmers across Canada left thousands of acres of potato crops unharvested after a slew of bad weather created challenging conditions, setting the stage for a possible shortage of the starchy dinner table staple.</p>
<p>"It's unprecedented. Never, never before have I seen this in my time," said Kevin MacIsaac, general manager of the United Potato Growers of Canada (UPGC), an organization that provides industry information to help farmers make production and marketing decisions. He's been with the organization for seven years and, before that, grew potatoes in Prince Edward Island, where he still lives.</p>
<p>In typical years, one area of the country may suffer from a bad harvest, while others do OK, he said, but this year, the problems span almost all the way across the country.</p>
<div class="sideItems"><div class="related"><div class="other-photos"><div class="element teaser"><div class="photo"><a class="galleryitem" href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.4200646.1543677562!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpg" title="Potato "><img title="Potato " height="127" alt="Potato " width="225" src="https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.4200646.1543677562!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_225/image.jpg"/></a></div>
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<p class="imgText">Potatoes are seen in Halifax on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</p>
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<p>Farmers abandoned about 16,000 acres of potato crop, according to the group's most recent estimate, which did not include figures for Saskatchewan, Ontario or Nova Scotia, but indicated they also suffered some losses. B.C. is the only province that did not mention abandoned crops in UPGC's report.</p>
<p>The group expects to have more precise figures soon, MacIsaac said, but is working with the best information it has now.</p>
<p>P.E.I., the country's largest potato producer, suffered the most.</p>
<p>Farmers left about 6,800 acres unharvested. In a typical year, some 500 to 1,000 acres may be abandoned, said Greg Donald, general manager of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board, which represents the province's nearly 170 growers.</p>
<p>The weather this year in the province was relentless.</p>
<p>First came a lacklustre growing season, with a late spring and hot, dry summer, said Donald, which was followed by an early frost in September that killed any future growth potential.</p>
<p>Then came copious amounts of rain, which delayed the end of harvest beyond the usual Halloween target date, and farmers pushed into November.</p>
<p>In early November, it rained one day and the ground froze solid the next, he said, meaning farmers could no longer dig for potatoes.</p>
<p>"Many have described it as the harvest from hell," he said.</p>
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<p>Unusual weather caused other provinces to suffer similar setbacks.</p>
<p>In Manitoba, some 5,200 acres remain unharvested, according to UPGC. While the province's prospects for a good yield were strong going into harvest, rainfall followed by a cold spell resulted in thousands of abandoned acres, said MacIsaac.</p>
<p>Most farmers will have some type of insurance to cover a portion of their costs associated with the lost income, but it won't cover the profit they would have made, he said.</p>
<p>The thousands of unharvested acres could mean a shortage of processing potatoes (those used to make products like french fries and hash browns) and table potatoes (those sold whole in grocery stores), both men said.</p>
<p>"It's going to be a real, you know, challenge," said Donald, adding there's not going to be enough local supply for the markets the province typically serves.</p>
<p>Compounding the problem is a similar situation in parts of the U.S., as well as parts of Europe where a dry season hurt yields, making for a more global shortfall.</p>
<p>While some growing areas in North America may have a shortage, others will have a surplus that can balance that out, said Terence Hochstein, executive director of the Potato Growers of Alberta.</p>
<p>His province abandoned about 1,000 acres, he said, which is more than he'd like, but pretty typical. It was able to send some potatoes to P.E.I. and Alberta to help, he said.</p>
<p>"Overall, I think the crop is going to be tight, but I think the industry will be alright."</p>
<p>Still, consumers could ultimately see price hikes on potato products due to basic supply and demand principles.</p>
<p>When there's less of a product, it's going to be reflected in the price, Donald said, adding even the potatoes that have been harvested are not quite safe yet.</p>
<p>Potatoes are mostly water and harvesting them in wet conditions adds the risk of bringing extra moisture into storage, making them more difficult to dry and keep, he said.</p>
<p>"So that's still a big concern as well."</p>
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</div> https://www.bloomberg.com/new…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2018-10-13:3863141:Comment:10950742018-10-13T15:41:48.571ZKMhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/KarenMartel
<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-12/gas-deliveries-resuming-as-cold-descends-on-british-columbia" target="_blank">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-12/gas-deliveries-resuming-as-cold-descends-on-british-columbia</a></p>
<div class="lede-text-v2 lede"><div class="lede-text-v2__container"><div class="lede-text-v2__content"><h1 class="lede-text-v2__hed">It’s Snowing So Much in Canada That Crops Can’t Get Harvested…</h1>
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<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-12/gas-deliveries-resuming-as-cold-descends-on-british-columbia" target="_blank">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-12/gas-deliveries-resuming-as-cold-descends-on-british-columbia</a></p>
<div class="lede-text-v2 lede"><div class="lede-text-v2__container"><div class="lede-text-v2__content"><h1 class="lede-text-v2__hed">It’s Snowing So Much in Canada That Crops Can’t Get Harvested</h1>
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<p>Mike Ammeter barely received a drop of rain on his Alberta farm all summer. Now, wet and snowy weather has kept him from harvesting his crops for five weeks.</p>
<p>“There’s a lot left to be done,” said Ammeter, 58, who hasn’t been able to harvest any of the 1,300 remaining acres of canola, wheat and barley that’s sitting under 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of snow on his farm west of Red Deer, Alberta. “The wheat is going to be downgraded for quality. Those losses are already done.”</p>
<p>It’s unfortunate timing for Canada, one of the world’s top wheat suppliers and the biggest canola exporter. The U.S.-China trade war and production problems for Russia and Australia are creating an opening for Canada to grab more market share in the global crop trade. While the nation’s wheat exports are running ahead of last year so far, further harvest delays could impede some of those sales.</p>
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<p>The global wheat issues drove December futures in Chicago up 7.3 percent this year to close at $5.1725 a bushel on Friday.</p>
<p>Still, investors are wary the gains may not last as Russia hasn’t curbed exports and Canada’s shipments have yet to significantly slow. Speculators held a net-short position, or the difference between bets on a price increase and wagers on a decline, of 16,885 futures and options in the week ended Oct. 9, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data published Friday.</p>
<p>Those bearish bets could end up squeezing hedge funds if weather problems continue. Canada’s harvest delays are now causing a<span> </span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/PGHV0SSYF01T" title="Too Much Snow Leaves Crops Stuck on Canada Farms as Vessels Idle" class="terminal-news-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backlog</a><span> </span>in exports as ships are sitting idle in Vancouver waiting for grain.</p>
<p>“Vessels arriving now were booked back in early August when no one would have guessed we’d be getting this kind of weather,” said Mark Hemmes, president of Edmonton, Alberta-based Quorum Corp., a company hired by the federal government to monitor Canada’s grain transportation system. “Not a good start to the shipping season.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/PGI2BBSYF01S" title="Rains May Force Some Replanting for U.S. Winter Wheat: FCStone" class="terminal-news-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rains May Force Some Replanting for U.S. Winter Wheat: FCStone</a></p>
<p>In Saskatchewan, the weather has slowed harvest across much of the region and stopped it altogether in northern areas, the province’s agriculture ministry said in an Oct. 10<span> </span><a href="http://www.saskatchewan.ca/crop-report#utm_campaign=q2_2015&utm_medium=short&utm_source=%2Fcrop-report" title="SK crop report" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">report</a>. Many crops are coming out of fields too damp and need to be placed in dryers, exacerbating delays.</p>
<p>It’s a similar situation in neighboring Alberta, where 47 percent of major crops have been harvested, trailing the five-year average of 82 percent, the province’s agriculture ministry said Friday in a<span> </span><a href="https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sdd16741" title="Alberta crop report" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">report</a>.</p>
<p>“It’s not unusual to have this kind of weather, but it is for it to last this long,” said Norm Hall, a farmer and vice president for the<span> </span><a href="https://www.cfa-fca.ca/" title="Canadian Federation of Agriculture" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Canadian Federation of Agriculture</a>.</p>
<p>Any wheat that’s left out in farmer Ammeter’s field will probably end up declining to a lower grade or be sold as feed after some plants were flattened by snow. Declines for crop quality could lower his revenue by thousands of dollars, while his costs could go up as he’ll have to spend more on fuel to dry the grain once it comes off the field, Ammeter said.</p>
<p>“It’s definitely a stressful time for farmers,” said Daryl Fransoo, who has yet to harvest 4,400 acres of canola on his farm 50 miles north of North Battleford, Saskatchewan. “There’s a lot of guys that are down in the dumps right now.”</p>
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