Light Frost Hits Prairies

Sep 20, 2021

Some areas across the prairies were greeted with their first frost last night.

Early reports this morning in Saskatchewan and Alberta seem to vary on just how impactful the frost was on crops.

"It seems that there were quite a few areas that did get it last night and it ranged," Matthew Struthers, a crops extension specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, said. "I spoke with one fella, it only got to -2 for about a half-hour and then other guys it was a little bit colder than that for a little bit longer. It's all about how cold it got and the duration."

He added that the frost will force producers to hold off on spraying for at least 24 to 48 hours.

"When the frost happens, plants put up their guard and they won't accept chemicals when we spray them," he said.

Struthers said he hadn't heard of any reports regarding killing frost, which usually sets in around -5 to -7.

A couple of areas that broke the freezing mark last night were Swift Current, Kindersley, Fort McMurray, and Saskatoon.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.