The Rural Voice, 1978-10, Page 30Advice on Farming
Farm weather
service planned
Hailstorms. tornadoes, insect
infestations, grasshopper attacks." late
blight disease. drought conditions, snow
cover, wind chill. cloud formations and
heat waves.
The list could fill the page. These are
only some of the concerns of a science that,
as man strives to increase food production,
assumes an increasingly vital role.
The science is agrometeorology • the
study of weather and climate and its effects
on agriculture- and it plays an integral role
in the food chain. extending from producer
to consumer.
The role of Agrometeorology has
become so important in relation to land use
that Agriculture Canada recently
regrouped experts from two research
facilities to create the Land Resources
Research Institute (LRRI) in Ottawa.
Agrometeorological experts have
teamed up with specialists in remote
sensing, computer programming, data
collection. interpretation and yield
prediction using climatological statistics.
Wolfgang Baier, assistant director of the
new institute. says the science has
assumed a functional position in all of
agriculture.
"There are many decisions that must be
made in Canadian farming that are
dependent to some degree on
agrometeorology," Dr. Baier says.
In simple terms. specialists within the
new institute concern themselves with
every aspect of interactions between
weather. climate. soil and water and the
ways in which they affect the food supply.
Their field of interestextends from the
soil layers of the deepest plant roots.
through the air in which crops and animals
live. to the atmosphere that transports
seedand spores. pollen. insects and even
pollution. Other concerns include altering
the natural environment. through such
means as working with specialists on the
agro-climatic impact of rainmaking.
establishing windbreaks to control erosion.
irrigation practices and glasshouses.
The important of agrometeorology is
underlined by the fact that to increase food
production, agriculture must be improved.
And to improve agriculture means
manipulating weather sensitive operations.
Remote sensing is one area within the
science that has moved ahead quickly.
Scientists now use aerial photography from
satellites to spot problems such as insect
infestations and diseases in crops almost
before the farmer sees them. As well,
acreages seeded to various crops can be
determined and even yield can be predicted
from such techniques.
Soil moisture also is monitored closely by
LRR I staff. Studies centered in the prairie
provinces, where moisture is of critical
concern, result in accurate assessments of
growing conditions and potential
yield
A new service now is being planned to
provide more informative -weather forecasts
to farmers. LRRI staff. working with
officials from Environment Canada's
Atmospher: c Environment Service and the
Canadian Federation of Agriculture, say
the program will be operational within
about a year.
"A most important aspect of our work is
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PG. 30 THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER 1978