Weather is a variable you can’t control when farming, but you can learn what to expect to help you better mitigate its effects on your spuds. At the Canadian Spud Congress on March 22 at 10:45 a.m. CDT Scott Kehler, president and chief weather scientist at Weatherlogics, will be sharing weather outlooks for the upcoming growing season as part of the “Be Weather Ready in 2022” session.
Spud Smart spoke with Kehler over email ahead of the Congress to get to know him and get a preview of what he’ll be talking about.
Spud Smart (SS): How long have you been working in your current job? And how did you end up working in this field?
Scott Kehler (SK): I co-founded Weatherlogics in 2016 and have been there ever since, so it’s been about six years at this point. Weather has been a passion of mine for a long time, and I chose to study meteorology in university. I knew from my early days studying meteorology that it would be my career, but I didn’t realize I’d end up running a company too!
SS: Describe your Canadian Spud Congress session?
SK: My session at the Canadian Spud Congress will be about the drought in 2021 that affected parts of Canada and the outlook for the 2022 growing season. Growers are always curious about the long-term forecast, so I hope I can deliver some good news!
SS: What is the number one learning point you want attendees to take away from your Canadian Spud Congress session?
SK: I hope attendees will learn a bit more about how long-term forecasts are prepared. Part of my presentation discusses the process of making a forecast and where it can go wrong. This is valuable information to consider when using a forecast to make decisions.
SS: What’s your favourite part about your job?
SK: My favourite part of being a meteorologist is definitely watching storms, whether they’re blizzards, thunderstorms, or other extreme weather. I never want to see anyone hurt by weather, but these types of events are fascinating to watch from a scientific point of view.
SS: Why do you enjoy working with farmers/growers?
SK: Working with farmers is another part of my job that I really like. I grew up in a rural part of Canada, so it’s like talking with people that I knew growing up. It’s also nice to hear about all the great things going on in rural Canada, that you might not otherwise know about.
SS: Anything else — fun facts or otherwise — you’d like to share?
SK: While not part of my job, I am also an avid storm chaser. If I have time off, I enjoy watching thunderstorms roll across the Prairies. I’ve also gone south into tornado alley to watch storms there.
To watch this session live register for the Canadian Spud Congress for free.
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