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AAFC Develops New Drought Outlook Tool

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) new Drought Outlook tool predicts drought conditions 30-days into the future.

The tool was developed by AAFC Agroclimate Specialists Trevor Hadwen, Marilee Pregitzer, Dr. Catherine Champagne, Calvin Poff, and Richard Warren.

"We've linked our current conditions, the Canadian Drought Monitor, to the Environment Canada forecast," said Hadwen. "We've tried to link the current conditions of drought to that forecast by using a machine-based learning model that helps develop drought indices into the future and predicts the classification of drought in 30 days."

The Drought Outlook:

- Is the first tool of its kind in Canada for predicting future regional drought conditions.
- Forecasts 30 days into the future based on AAFC’s current monthly Canadian Drought Monitor assessment in combination with ECCC precipitation and temperature forecasts.

Forecasts will be made available through the national Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) for the purposes of informing producers and policy developers.

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.