By Alice McFarlane

Farmers provide important climate information

Aug 24, 2020 | 4:00 PM

MELFORT, SASKATCHEWAN – Climate and agriculture share a close relationship.

There are several resources available for the agriculture sector relating to weather and climate conditions.

Agroclimate specialist Trevor Hadwen said much of the information comes from weather stations and satellites but it’s the people on the ground that help give a true indication of what’s going on.

He said Environment Canada, private industries and satellite provide data, but it is citizen science or crowd sourced data they find most valuable.

“We use individual producers to ground truth information and provide detail on impacts producers see on their farm that helps to relate back to the realities of the ag industry,” Hadwen told farmnewsNOW.

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Several agroclimate maps show precipitation and temperature, soil moisture or drought. It comes directly from producers’ comments from agroclimate impact surveys

“The agroclimate impact reporter provides the opportunity for producers to tell us exactly what’s happening on their farm and provides direct feedback to the Government of Canada to help us develop policies that are going to help producers directly,” he said.

Hadwen said the maps are used in variety of ways.

“Producers use them for determining where to buy feed for their cattle or where to market their feed,” he said. “We work with CP and CN Rail in terms of logistics where to put their grain cars where there are bumper crops.”

Crop protection companies use the information to determine where products need to be placed. Insurance companies use the data to determine where there might be issues throughout the year.

Hadwen said they also provide recommendations to the programs branch on the Livestock Tax Deferral or other weather related Agri-Recovery programs.

“We go through an analysis of drought and excess moisture and provide those recommendations on a monthly or bi-monthly basis depending on the need throughout the year,” he said. “The data is put into those assessments and is helpful in determining where those issues are and how we can help.”

Many parts of the country do not have enough stations for collecting data. Hadwen said producers have helped us narrow in on certain areas that might not be covered by climate stations or models. He said it helps with various programs like the Livestock Tax Deferral.

He said the greater the number of reporters the more reliable the data.

Hadwen said becoming an agroclimate reporter is an easy task and only takes about five minutes.

“All the information we’re asking for you will know off of the top of your head,” he said. “You will be asked about feed supplies or if drought is impacting your operation. All of the things producers will be aware of in their area and will be able to answer quickly.”

The data is collected on the last day of each month and the information is posted on the drought watch website within a few days.

“The more information we have the better the chance of us getting the assessments right and be able to provide the proper assistance to the industry,” Hadwen said.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF