A palmer amaranth plant found in the RM of Dufferin, Manitoba. (courtesy Kim Brown-Livingston)
The Agronomists, Ep 95: Top disease, weed, and insect challenges of 2022
by RealAgriculture Agronomy Team
Get ready for our year-end wrap-up of The Agronomists! For this episode, host Lyndsey Smith asks the panelists from across Canada what the top weather, disease, insect, and weed challenge were for the 2022 growing season.
To cover everything from flea beetles, surprising yields, and noxious weeds, our special guests are Jeremy Boychyn of Alberta Wheat & Barley Commissions, Jason Voogt of Field 2 Field Agronomy, and Deb Campbell of Agronomy Advantage.
As we wrap up the year that was, we also send a thank you to our episode sponsors ADAMA Canada, CanolaMaster, and RealAg Radio!
The Agronomists returns January 9, 2023 at 8 pm E!
CEU Credit Form
Summary:
Let’s start with the top weather stories of the year
For Ontario, it was dry but also just-in-time, just enough moisture
For Alberta, it was too dry but also too much moisture all at once
For Manitoba, it was a 180 from drought to too wet, to delayed seeding, to ending up a good season overall
What was the impact of the weather? Everything from amazing yields for soybeans in Manitoba, to record wheat yield in Ontario, to ho-hum canola in some of the west (more on that later)
Most miserable looking wheat in fall o 2021. It was the miracle of 2022!
Soybeans going in before canola was the right call in 2022 in Manitoba
Can we plan for this? Get them in early!
More nodes, shorter internode space — it’s all about day length
For Alberta, hail came late in some concentrated areas and wiped out any chance of a crop. Heart breaking
Time for insects!
In Alberta, the gosh darn grasshoppers got away on many — scout, scout, scout!
They are easier to control when smaller
Check the survey/forecast map, too, where available
Campbell asks: how accurate are the forecast maps?
If we could have an Ontario version, Campbell would like it for aphids and spider mites
Soybean aphids are a chronic issue for most of Ontario
Having the right product available at the right time for insects is key, and didn’t always happen (more on that later too)
Cereal aphids were also an issue. Different aphids. Oats seemed hard hit
Are more oats in rotation adding to the problem? Possible. Green bridge, alternative host
The expectation for higher yields is there, so the spray pays
For Manitoba, aphids were also an issue (cereal). Vector for barley yellow dwarf virus
Some over winter, some don’t
Buckthorn is an alternate host for aphids and for crown rust
Ah, flea beetles
Apocalyptic is the word Voogt would use for 2022 flea beetles
Many treated acres still saw a spray
There will be an issue in 2023, for sure
Is delayed seeding the way to go? Maybe
The risk of heat blast may be less than the cost of spraying and reseeding
Alberta is also struggling with shifting population of flea beetles, too
Shift to striped flea beetle
Don’t be afraid to seed canola later
Disease time!
Bacterial leaf streak in wheat — fungicides don’t work, it’s spread by seed at first. Boychyn says scout and test because saving seed will introduce it to new fields next year
For Manitoba, blackleg and verticillium stripe were the biggest issues for sure (in canola)
Sclerotinia was a non-issue
Verticillium enters the plant early but impact shows up much later
Canola is not a very competitive crop in its early stages, so keeping an eye on the competition is key. We've covered on the Canola School why a pre-emerge herbicide pass can be valuable, but of course, the next step is to watch for weeds that have emerged with the crop. Sean McKnight, technical service…
Please register to read and comment.