Farms.com Home  › News

Light Frost Hits Prairies

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.

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

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.