WEATHER AND WHEAT YIELD IN WESTERN CANADA: II. INFLUENCE OF PRE-SEASONAL PRECIPITATION ON PLOT YIELDS III. RELATION BETWEEN PRECIPITATION AND AGRICULTURAL YIELD

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Abstract
In continuance of a previous statistical study, the correlation between plot yields of wheat grown at experimental stations in central and southern Saskatchewan and Alberta and the amount of precipitation during the autumn, winter and spring months prior to sowing was investigated.There was a significant relation between pre-seasonal precipitation and the yield secured from year to year on both the fallowed and stubble plots of a summerfallow-wheat-wheat rotation, above-average moisture being associated with increased yields. The annual yields of Marquis wheat from more fertile summerfallowed varietal test plots were not, however, significantly correlated with pre-seasonal precipitation, nor was there any consistent relation between this weather factor and the relative yield of certain early, medium-early and late-maturing varieties.The annual average yield of wheat per acre from 1916–34 in three central and in three southern crop districts of Saskatchewan and Alberta showed a significant positive correlation with the available statistics of rainfall between May 1 and July 31. Yields in the southern districts were also positively correlated with pre-seasonal precipitation, whereas those in the central districts were not. The degree of association (R = 0.74, central; and 0.79, southern) was not adequate for the practical forecasting of annual production, but may be improved by refinements dependent on the accumulation of additional observational data.

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