WINNIPEG - The Canadian Wheat Board hopes to develop a weather network for farmers by promoting mini weather machines that localize conditions and forecasts.
The board has teamed up with WeatherBug, a U.S. firm that offers up-to-the-minute weather information for individual farms. Guy Ash, the wheat board's manager for the project, says the mini weather machines are capable of updating conditions on a farm every 2 1/2 seconds.
Individual machines are linked to a network through the Internet, so subscribers can see conditions and forecasts across the Prairies.
Ash says the board would like to have about 600 machines across Western Canada, adding they would be suitable for agriculture businesses and local government offices.
The board estimates about 50 machines are already running in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
