The rain over the past week was not on the wish list for most farmers. As crops ripen, rain is going to become less and less welcome. Much of the Prairie grain belt has seen record high precipitation this growing season. The weather problems in Russia and Ukraine are the complete opposite of what we’re facing. Last Friday, I received an email from Al Hingston, a livestock consultant from Saskatchewan who is living in Ukraine. He reports that they’ve had temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s for several weeks now, occasionally accompanied by high winds. The corn fields have been blasted and look almost like dead ripe barley – pale yellow white. The sunflowers have finished flowering and the heads are hanging. Hingston wonders how the seeds will fill without rain. He reports that the winter crops have come off not bad, but he says the summer crops are going to take a terrible hit, at least in his Oblast. Reports indicate the hot, dry conditions there are widespread. Meanwhile, the problems of both Western Canada and the former Soviet Union pale in comparison to what people in Pakistan are facing. I’m Kevin Hursh.