Can we have another open fall?

August is quickly approaching and it will be a frost watch month. In the most frost prone regions of the Saskatchewan grain belt, the first frost is typically by the end of August. For other locations, the average is some time during the first week of September. Areas with the longest frost-free days don’t typically get frost until the second week of September. Over the years, there have been a number of widespread frost events in August that have caused substantial crop damage. Last year was a particularly open fall. Can we be lucky two years in a row? Crops remain behind normal development and a number of areas flirted with frost earlier this month. Frost in August would be ugly. Many people correlate frost events with the full moon. The next full moon is August 5. In September, the full moon comes on the 4th. People who have examined the full moon / frost correlation scientifically claim that there is no relationship. However, a lot of folks are convinced that the two are linked. Whether or not moon phases play a role, the fate of the 2009 crop hinges on how many frost free days we can accumulate. I’m Kevin Hursh.

www.hursh.ca

Kevin Hursh, PAg, CAC

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