Soil Moisture Penetration
Lacking 3 to 5 Inches

• Farmers, Ranchers Facing Spring Drought Conditions

Farmers and ranchers in the area are still facing drought conditions as plans are being made for seeding operations.

The drought conditions are worst in the eastern and southern parts of Alberta and central and southern Saskatchewan.

Jim Moncrieff who farms three miles east of The Ribstone Hutterite colony north of Provost says that his land looks a lot drier than normal this spring.

If there is some moisture before seeding he will likely put in alfalfa on a lot of the land but oats or a hybrid of rye and wheat called trytacale, may be planted instead for feed. He calls this situation “absolutely” a drought and points out that farmers first need moisture on the ground to have it evaporate and then return from the sky. His dugouts are nearly empty and he will have to fence them and pump them otherwise will have to drill deep wells for water. Moncrieff is farming land since 1992 that has been in the family since 1910.

Rest of story in print version in April 17 edition of The Provost News
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Power Off, Schools Closed
Some schools were not open for operation on Monday morning, April 15 because of a lack of electrical power.

There were reports that both Czar and Amisk schools were closed because of no electricity. Hardisty and Sedgewick schools were also closed and no busses ran to the Irma school.

Some snow fell in the area Sunday night.

There were no problems reported at Provost, STA or Chauvin schools.

Farmer David Blume of Hayter said that his power went off Sunday night for four hours and also on Friday for three to four hours. He said that someone hit a power pole on Friday. Rick Cromarty, who farms north and west of Provost said that the power was off at 10:30 p.m. Sunday and it was still off just before noon on Monday at press time. Meanwhile Tom Meier of Cadogan reported that the power was off until noon Monday morning.

Print version in April 17 edition of The Provost News
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