Winter's second bite | Lynchburg, Virginia News Advance

The effects of last winter’s weather are becoming known. Local gardeners have been reporting problems ranging from dead branches to total plant loss.

Snow hampers Monaro graziers - 10/06/2009

The cold snap in Australia's south-east has dumped snow across the Monaro grazing country south of Canberra.

Roads are closed, power is out to many rural properties, and some people are stranded in their homes.

Falls of between 2 and 20 millimetres have also stranded cattle trucks on farms, stopping graziers from sending stock to the Cooma saleyards.

Ski resorts gear up for action | Ski: Top Stories | News.com.au

Across the ocean at New Zealand, favourable cold weather, consistent snowfalls and plenty of snowmaking opportunities resulted in superb snow conditions for the opening of Coronet Peak on the Queen’s birthday weekend, in Queenstown.

Gerald Pilger: No canola for 2009? - Editor Whetter's blog

Frost and drought have severely damaged canola crops in central Alberta. Even wheat and barley show damage and are way behind. This morning (June 9) it was minus 3 C at our farm and that was the fourth night in a row of frost with temperatures as low as minus 5 reported in the area. (Our covered tomatoes and begonias even froze.) This is on top of lots of nights of frost in May and basically no rainfall since the snow went. Furthermore, we were going into the season with next to no subsurface moisture. In our fields, the canola plants that have survived the frosts and drought to this point are flat on the ground today and only time will tell if any survive. The date, continued cold, and especially lack of moisture make reseeding as risky, if not more so, than leaving the canola that is left and praying for a miracle.

I bought back my fall canola delivery contracts just after the elevator opened this morning and was the fourth person to do so today.