February 25, 2009

La Nina conditions in the Pacific Ocean over the winter indicate that Canada may have a large wheat yield the following summer, a meteorologist said Tuesday (Feb 24).

In Canada, four of the five-best yielding years for wheat in the past 50 years, including 2008, came following strong La Nina conditions in January, said Mike Tannura from Chicago's T-storm Weather.

As a result, Tannura said chances of above-average Canadian wheat yields are higher when there is a La Nina.

However, La Nina conditions were also present prior to one of the five poorest yielding years for Canadian wheat, showing that there can be many other factors determining actual weather patterns.