Aster yellows is a ‘phytoplasma’ disease carried by aster leafhoppers. It’s known for the odd-shaped canola pods it causes later in the growing season. Problems with aster yellows are hit and miss, depending on your area and the year. “We are kind of waiting for the next leafhopper infestation with aster yellows, the next big… Read more »
Category: Canola Disease, Weeds & Insects
Canola School: The trouble with flea beetles…
Less than ideal conditions have slowed down canola development and left the crop vulnerable to tiny 2.5 millimetre beetles in some areas this spring. Flea beetles are the number one pest in canola on the Western Canadian Prairies. In this Canola School episode, we talk with Tyler Wist, entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon, about how… Read more »
Canola School: Be on alert for cutworm and wireworm
With the cooler soil temperatures we’ve been seeing across Western Canada, unwanted pests are beginning to show up in some fields. Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Insect Management Specialist Scott Meers says that early on in the season we should be keeping our eyes out for stand establishment insects such as cutworms and wireworms. There have been a… Read more »
Canola School: Blackleg Resistance Gene Labels On the Way
Canola seed in Canada could soon come with a label describing the variety’s blackleg disease resistance package, similar to the labeling system used in Australia. After around four years of discussions between seed companies, researchers, and growers, an agreement-in-principle has been reached on blackleg resistance labeling, says Clint Jurke, agronomy director with the Canola Council of Canada,… Read more »
Canola School: Breeding Better Blackleg Resistance
Seed companies are turning to new sources of resistance to protect canola against blackleg disease, as the pathogen population in Western Canada has adapted over the years. Until recently, most of the varieties marketed as “blackleg resistant” relied on what’s known as the Rlm3 gene, explains Sakaria Liban, pathologist with DL Seeds, in this episode of… Read more »
Canola School: 13 New Strains Serve as Warnings About Clubroot Resistance
The clubroot story in Western Canada continues to be written as researchers are finding additional strains of the pathogen that are capable of overcoming genetic resistance. So far, 13 new variants have been identified since the breakdown of resistance was first confirmed in 2013, explains Stephen Strelkov, plant pathology researcher at the University of Alberta. “We think resistance… Read more »
Canola School: Who is Pushing for Change in Global Markets?
There’s no long-term trend talk of any agriculture commodity sector, it seems, that doesn’t include at least some reference to China. After all, it’s not just a populous country, it’s a huge economic driver and consumer of Canadian agriculture products. Imagine, then, what it would mean to have the Chinese market closed, a market worth… Read more »
Canola School: How Seed Companies Determine Sclerotinia Ratings
Canola seed companies are releasing more varieties with claims they have reduced susceptibility to sclerotinia, but how do they determine those ratings? Coming off a season with high sclerotinia pressure, what does it mean if a variety is labelled as ‘partially resistant’? In 2011, the Western Canadian Canola/Rapeseed Recommending Committee started searching for a test that… Read more »
Canola School: Taking High Quality Diagnostic Photos
With a smartphone in their pocket, every farmer, farm employee, or agronomist is now also a photographer. The ability to share pictures from the field has dramatically improved how farmers and agronomists communicate and diagnose issues. However, the information gleaned from a cellphone photo can only be as good as the original picture. A poor photo won’t tell… Read more »
Canola School: The Rundown on Lygus Bugs and Cabbage Seedpod Weevils
While most canola producers in western Canada are still keeping an eye out for wireworms and cutworms, there are more reasons to scout on the horizon. Those reasons? Cabbage seedpod weevils and lygus bugs. For each species, there are a series of factors that might influence the susceptibility of a given canola crop to infestation…. Read more »
Canola School: Cutting Cleaver Populations with Cultural Control Practices
Herbicides are one tool for managing cleavers in canola, but there are many other “small hammers” in the toolbox as well. Seeding rates, row spacing, control timing, and crop rotation all need to be considered, explains Ian Epp, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, in this episode of Canola School. “We can add a… Read more »
Canola School: Making Survival Difficult for Glyphosate-Resistant Kochia
Glyphosate-resistant kochia has started showing up in more of Western Canada, and as with other cases of resistance, it’s becoming evident you can’t rely on a single tool for too long. Minimizing resistant weed populations requires an integrated or diverse approach. The crop itself must help make survival difficult for potentially resistant weed seedlings, explains Rob… Read more »
Canola School: New Canola Disease Found in Six Provinces
Editor’s note: The Canadian verticillium stakeholders committee has decided to call the disease caused by Verticillium longisporum “verticillium stripe” instead of “verticillium wilt.” This story has been updated to reflect the new terminology. The canola industry is in the early stages of understanding what it’s up against with a new fungal disease. Verticillium stripe (previously… Read more »
Canola School: Keeping the Chinese Market Open — The Canola Council’s Position on Quinclorac Herbicide
China imports about one-third of the canola grown in Canada. It’s critical Canadian canola meet the requirements for selling into the Chinese market. That’s why the Canola Council of Canada is advising against the use of quinclorac herbicide on canola in 2016, explains Brian Innes, vice president of government relations for the CCC, in this Canola School… Read more »
Canola School: Genetic Diversity and the Fight to Protect Clubroot Resistance
Visible clubroot symptoms were first identified in a canola field in Alberta in 2003. It has since spread through much of the province, and by the end of 2014, it was present in 30 municipalities and into neighbouring provinces. It was also that year, that a pathotype of the disease observed the year earlier was confirmed… Read more »