The Citizen, 1996-03-20, Page 35Agriculture 1996
Table 1
Canada's National Temperature Summary
Canada's Warmest Years and Decades
Rank Year
1 1981
2 1987
3 1931
4 1944
5 1938
6 1953
7 1952
8 1977
9 1915
10 1988
11 1940
12 1958
13 1942
14 1973
15 1960
16 1937
17 1947
18 1905
19 1991
20 1930
21 1941
22 1980
23 1969
24 1943
25 1963
Decade
1980-89
1940-49
1930-39
1950-59
1960-69
1920-29
1970-79
1900-09
1910-19
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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 1996. PAGE A-11.
Weather forecasting critical to agriculture industry
By Bonnie Gropp
The importance of weather to
agriculture is as important as agri-
culture to mankind. The quality and
productivity of this industry are
sensitive to the timeliness and
accuracy of weather information.
Yet, Environment Canada contin-
ues to close weather offices, leav-
ing a gap in service to the
agricultural community. In 1995
EC closed the Kingston, St. Cather-
ines, Peterboro, Sault St. Marie and
North Bay offices, with the closing
of Sarnia, Windsor, Hamilton and
Waterloo-Wellington to occur in
1996 and London and Sudbury in
1997. This will mean that only the
Toronto, Ottawa and Thunder Bay
station will remain open for a gen-
eral five-day forecast. Any addi-
tional information would be
charged on a fee for service basis
from EC.
According to background infor-
mation from the Ontario Soil and
Crop Improvement Association
(OSCIA) these local offices have
been a direct contact with the farm
community and an estimated one
million calls per year have been
received from Ontario Agriculture.
Early this year, OSCIA was
requested by the the Ontario Agri-
cultural Weather Services Commit-
tee to establish an Ontario Weather
Centre. This committee is a long-
standing forum on agricultural
weather services issues represent-
ing grains and oilseed, horticulture,
the Ontario Federation of Agricul-
ture, Food and Rural Affairs and
the University of Guelph.
"We strongly support the concept
of an Agricultural Weather Centre
because it will provide an excellent
pipeline for technology transfer
from agricultural weather
researchers to agricultural produc-
ers," says Terry Gillespie a profes-
sor at the University of Guelph.
The weather centre would contin-
ue to make farm weather forecasts
available to the rural community, as
well as co-ordinating and distribut-
ing weather related crop manage-
ment factors assisting in disease
and insect control.
The weather information needs
will of course vary by commodity
and region.
Weather products and services
would be accessible through auto-
matic telephone answering devices,
radio and television contacts, data
transmission services through satel-
lite technology, internet and per-
sonal consultation with
meteorologists. The objective is to
work with existing weather fore-
casters and service providers to
ensure accurate and timely infor-
mation.
Farm weather forecasts differ
from the general public forecast as
there are additional indicators to be
provided and used as management
tools. It is critical that these factors
— drying index, leaf wetness,
growing degree days, heat units and
other crop management factors —
are centrally co-ordinated and made
available.
"We wish to ensure that needs
relation to agricultural weather
information receive the highest pri-
ority in Ontario," said Allan
Brown, OSCIA president. "An
agricultural weather centre with
this focus will form the foundation
to work with all stakeholders in the
agricultural industry to provide the
best possible service for the least
cost."
OSCIA felt it imperative that the
centre be in operation by this
spring.
Local knowledge is an important
aspect of weather forecasting for
farmers. Tim Ball, a professor of
climatology at the University of
Winnipeg, wrote a column in
Country Guide on becoming your
own weather forecaster. Noting the
closure of the EC weather stations
and its impact on the farm commu-
nity, Ball recommends that farmers
collect their own data and compile
it with government information to
forecast local weather.
Though changing climates and
environmental awareness have
made demand for weather instru-
ments greater and technology has
improved so that there are some
sophisticated microstations avail-
able, Ball says cheap short-term
weather predicting can be accom-
plished with a simple, but good
barometer.
A good buy, he says, is a basic
electronic weather station, which
provides date and time, wind speed
and direction, wind chill and out-
side air temperature for roughly
$300.
Ball says rainfall measurement is
an important factor of weather fore-
casting, but is also the most diffi-
cult. A simple plastic funnel, he
says, may provide a crude measure-
ment, but it has to be emptied at
regular intervals. These can be
placed around the acreage to under-
stand the pattern of rainfall, but a
tipping bucket is a more precise
gauge. Rainfall is directed into a
pivoting bucket, then when one
side has .1 inches of water it tips
and empties. A computer records
the number and thus the amount.
Keeping a personal watch on the
weather is perhaps the way of the
future. Ball says that /people feel
they have depended too much on
government and complain about the
local weather forecasts. "Here is a
chance to do something."