CBOT May 2019 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn rises as Midwest floods fuel planting concerns

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures jumped more than one per cent on Thursday to their highest level in 2-1/2 weeks as concerns about delayed planting in the western U.S. Midwest sparked buying and fund short-covering. Soybeans followed corn higher, although gains were restrained by lower-than-expected weekly export sales data and concerns about trade […] Read more



A section of road is underwater stranding a vehicle after flooding near Waterloo, Neb. on March 18, 2019. (Handout photo by Ryan Hignight/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, via Reuters)

U.S. Midwest’s catastrophic floods cause widespread damage

Brownville, Neb. | Reuters — Severe flooding caused by rainfall and melting snow devastated farms and towns in Nebraska and Iowa on Tuesday, leaving at least four people dead and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, with waters yet to crest in parts of the region for several days. The floods inundated stretches […] Read more


A view of a farm partially submerged in floodwater at Scribner, Neb. on March 14, 2019, in a still image from video obtained from social media on March 19. (Video screengrab from Angie Lange via Reuters)

Livestock, pets among victims in U.S. Midwest flooding

Reuters — The floods that have devastated large swaths of Nebraska and Iowa since late last week left house pets homeless, inflicted an unknown toll on livestock and led to several daring water rescues of animals from dogs to horses. Rescuers in the Omaha area, where the Platte, Elkhorn and Missouri rivers began spilling over […] Read more

Nebraska State Police tweeted aerial footage on March 15, 2019 showing cattle stranded on tiny islands in floodwaters around Fremont, about 50 km northwest of Omaha. (Nebraska State Police photo via @NEStatePatrol on Twitter)

U.S. farm belt slammed by floods, heavy snow from bomb cyclone

Reuters — A harsh late-winter storm broadsided a vast swath of the U.S. agriculture industry this week as heavy snow closed roads and buried cattle in the Plains while excessive rain flooded Midwest fields and swamped grain elevators. A “bomb cyclone” hurled hurricane-force winds, sparked tornadoes and dumped heavy snow and rain across the Plains […] Read more

A washout on Manitoba PR 346 south of Brandon in April 2017. (Manitoba Co-operator file photo by Alexis Stockford)

Manitoba to prepare for spring flooding

Some major waterways in agricultural Manitoba are expected to spill their banks this spring, according to the provincial infrastructure department’s first official flood outlook for the year. Assuming normal weather conditions for the season, southern Manitobans can expect levels on the Red River south of the floodway to peak near 2011 levels, the department said. […] Read more


Cows wade through a flooded field following heavy rains in the southern New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, Australia, October 2, 2016.

Hundreds of thousands of cattle killed by Australian floods

The region has gone from drought to catastrophic floods after receiving 1.5 year’s worth of rain in seven days

Sydney | Reuters – Authorities planned to drop fodder to stranded cattle in Australia’s flooded far north earlier this month where vast parts of the outback are under water and livestock losses are estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Torrential rains that lashed the coastal city of Townsville in Queensland state this week have swept […] Read more

(Thamyrissalgueiro/iStock/Getty Images)

Abrupt mid-March shift into spring predicted

Winter conditions are expected to remain the norm across the Canadian Prairies through the middle of March, when a sudden pattern change brings an abrupt start to spring, according to the latest seasonal forecast from The Weather Network. The quick move from cold to warm conditions raises the risk of flooding in areas with a […] Read more