The building of Highway 39 and access to larger centers marked the beginning of decline of Yellow Grass as a commercial center. The onset of the Great Depression and substantial crop failures would take its toll on the town. The agricultural industry made a recovery in the post-World War II years with record setting crops, and the community recovered its municipal services. In the last few decades the economy has been relatively stagnant, with most of the town's youth leaving to find employment in larger communities. Pressures on farming due to weather and high fuel and equipment costs have been keeping the growth of agriculture in check. Climate and geography Yellow Grass is in a region of Canada known as the Great Plains, and situated well into the Canadian Prairies. The area is generally flat, but provides land suitable for large-scale farming. A few small, intermittent lakes populate the surrounding area. These lakes form as a result of the spring runoff when the snow melts, and vary in size depending on annual rainfall. In hot, dry years, some lakes can completely disappear, as no streams or rivers drain into the lakes. The climate is usually dry; however, Yellow Grass receives enough precipitation in the warmer half of the year to be classified as a humid continental climate (Dfb). The winter usually results in very cold temperatures that reach into the −20s to −30s degrees Celsius, while the summer produces relatively hot, dry temperatures. On average the temperature exceeds 2.4 times per year. What was once the highest recorded temperature in Canadian history was set on July 5, 1937 when the temperature reached at both Yellow Grass and at Midale, Saskatchewan, which is located 64 kilometres southeast of Yellow Grass. This record stood until June 27, 2021 when it was surpassed by Lytton, British Columbia which hit . The mean temperature for July is and January is . Extreme high and low temperatures in Yellow Grass have ranged from in July 1937 to in January 1916. In the summer there can be fast moving and violent prairie thunderstorms. The thunderstorms can bring large hail and damaging winds. Municipal services Telephone Yellow Grass was a pioneer in bringing telephone services to southern Saskatchewan. On April 21, 1908 the town founded the Yellow Grass Rural Telephone Company Limited, that provided telephone service to the town and surrounding areas. The company provided service to