Category: Canola Disease, Weeds & Insects

Farmers in Western Canada should add another chemistry to the list to pay attention to when it comes to herbicide resistance in kochia, says a weed scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The problematic weed is already known to be resistant to Group 2, Group 4 and/or Group 9 herbicides. “The new thing that we’re… Read More

After spending close to 2,500 hours over the last five years operating a sprayer equipped with optical spraying technology on his farm near Fisk, Saskatchewan, Carl deConinck Smith is not only an early adopter, but also a proponent of weed-sensing technology on sprayers. “Five years ago, we felt it was about a three-year return on… Read More

Canola growers in Western Canada likely won’t have access to crop protection products that contain lambda-cyhalothrin — one of the main active ingredients used to control insect pests — in 2023, which means there are several factors that need to be considered in planning for managing insects, such as flea beetles and grasshoppers. Lambda-cy products,… Read More

First found in 2014 in Manitoba, verticillium stripe has become a more common disease found in canola. In parts of Manitoba, the season started with an excess of moisture and was hot, which led to the perfect breeding ground for the disease. Which is why it was the heaviest year on record in Western Canada… Read More

The ground may freeze and the plants stop growing, but there’s no “off season” for good agronomy. Just because the crop is in the bin, doesn’t mean we should stop thinking about how to improve production. The way to do that, says Leighton Blashko of BASF, is to think of the 5 Ws of planning… Read More

Despite the calendar date, many areas of the Prairies haven’t seen a killing frost this fall, which means the window for fall weed control is still open. As producers, agronomists, and everyone in-between are surveying fields, the perennial weeds are likely getting noticed. As Leighton Blashko, technical service specialist with BASF, says, there’s still time… Read More

Both lygus bugs and diamondback moths can cause issues for canola growers, not only because of the damage they do to a crop, but also because they tend to show up later in the growing season, which can complicate or eliminate the option to spray. For this episode of the Canola School, Jaden Wood-Sparrow, agronomy… Read More

Diamondback moths blow in at some point early in the season (thanks, America!), and set about living on the Prairies and in the canola crop for the rest of the growing season. Jordan Bannerman, entomologist with the University of Manitoba, says that understanding when the moths arrive, through the use of pheromone traps, and how long… Read More

By early July, many canola fields across the Prairies are in the beginning stages of bolting. According to Héctor Cárcamo, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Lethbridge, Alta., that’s a great time to start thinking about the cabbage seed pod weevil. Before worrying about thresholds and spray timing for the insect pest that can… Read More

The decision whether to spray a fungicide for sclerotinia stem rot always comes back to the disease triangle — a susceptible host, the presence of the pathogen, and a favourable environment — and many canola-growing areas currently have all three. Under “favourable environment,” sclerotinia requires moist soil conditions to germinate. The last few years have… Read More