Frost hits a huge swath of the Prairies

As the season changes to fall, the leaves find new colours, football starts, and crops attempt to finish prior to the first hard frost.

In a very quick weather change over the last four days, Tuesday morning brought extremely cold temperatures to large parts of the Prairies, from Manitoba, through Saskatchewan, and into Alberta. Night time temps fell to -10 in some areas, and for hours at a time (see below).

Don’t Miss: When evaluating frost damage in canola, patience is key

Depending on where you are farm, the level of damage is varied. In Manitoba, there is concern regarding the soybeans and corn while in parts of Northern Saskatchewan the main concern is later seeded canola.

11pm. this #canola is already covered in #frost in NW #sask. It’s going to be a hard night and a hard lesson in the morning. pic.twitter.com/kK5hUynXiY

— Devon Walker (@Walkerfarm306) September 8, 2020

Aaaaaaaaaaand our beans are f$&ked…. #Harvest20 #2020continues pic.twitter.com/GH49cFDNR5

— Kyle Holman (@HolmanFarms) September 8, 2020

9 hrs below freezing, and counting… pic.twitter.com/r7QDVFGHN5

— Andrew Dalgarno (@Andrew_Dalgarno) September 8, 2020

Depending on the stage of the crop when frost hits, it can have very little impact, all the way through to having a significant impact both on yield and quality. A crop that ends up dying before it has reached physiological maturity can mean lost yield and higher drying costs, plus oilseeds can end up with locked-in green seed (chlorophyll that won’t clear the seed).

Everyone knows it was cold across most of Sk and Western Mb, Montana as well. Here were the coldest stations at 7am. @syngentacanada @farmers_edge @robsobs @rgstone1 @bigbushelsag @LouiseCarduner @L_Rossnagel @SaskPulse @Agridome @NKSeedsCanada pic.twitter.com/KYL7hGG7VM

— Richard (@WWFCandWKfan) September 8, 2020

Related:

• What can you do about green soybeans?
• Black layer countdown: the link between frost and mature corn