It’s mid-July and that means the canola is blooming! It also means you’re trying to sneak in some down-time at the local fair or at the cabin. And that’s a fantastic plan, says Angela Brackenreed, agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada, but before you go, there are a few things to scout for in your canola crop.
Related: Top Tips on Sweeping for Insects in Canola
In this short and sweet Canola School episode, Brackenreed reminds farmers to double check their crops for some early-onset diseases, like blackleg or stem rot, and to keep tabs on insect populations that may be building at this time. Having a bead on when bertha armyworm or diamondback moth populations are headed could mean you have to cut short your down time, but that’s always preferred to coming back to a disaster. As always, consider beneficial insect populations before you spray, and, please, remember to keep the bees safe when spraying a flowering crop (click here for tips on doing just that in canola).
