It’s too early to say how big a problem verticillium wilt could become for the Canadian canola industry, but it should be on the radar for growers, says the crop pathologist taking the lead on the new disease issue within Manitoba Agriculture. As reported by Real Ag last week, the first known case of Verticillium… Read More
“Neonicotinoids,” “Colony Collapse Disorder,” “Varroa,” “Nosema”… Defining those colloquialisms (and others) was just one of the goals the Canola Council of Canada’s Gregory Sekulic had in mind when he presented “Buzzwords about Bees” at the Farming Smarter Conference in Medicine Hat. Sekulic wanted to clear the air on jargon that so often exacerbates misunderstanding “We really lose… Read More
With clubroot disease showing up in fields east of Alberta over the last few years, there’s work underway in Manitoba to survey the entire canola-growing region of the province for the presence of clubroot spores. So far, spores or symptoms have been found in 13 fields in 10 rural municipalities in Manitoba. Spore concentrations in… Read More
One of the leading causes of herbicide injury in canola is insufficient sprayer cleaning, says Clark Brenzil, provincial weed control specialist for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. Whether due to drift or residue, herbicide injury can result in drastic yield losses, besides being an eye-sore to drive by. Related: Spray Tips with Tom Wolf — Ep. 6: 7 Steps to… Read More
Now that there’s a little more time on our hands, we can look back at the growing season and see where issues and inefficiencies arose. One of the major concerns this year in Western Canada was herbicide injury, especially in canola crops, where some growers thought their Liberty Link canola was seeing injury from its… Read More
With canola swathing underway across Western Canada, now is the time for growers to assess the toll that diseases have taken on the crop. The “what to look for” list at this time includes the main suspects: blackleg, sclerotinia and clubroot. In this episode of the Canola School, Keith Gabert of the Canola Council of… Read More
They’re small, quick, with piercing/sucking mouth parts that can make a real mess of canola seeds — that’s right, we’re talking lygus bugs. As Keith Gabert explains in this Canola School, there are several factors to consider when scouting for lygus bugs. First, environmental conditions like wind or heat can make numbers seem lower than… Read More
Since being found in Ontario in 2000, swede midge has had a rather hasty spread, with adults being found as early as 2007 in some areas in Saskatchewan. Until the past couple of years, however, western Canadian farmers reported finding few symptoms of swede midge damage, which can include anything from fused flower petals to… Read More
You’ve seen UAVs at work and added one to your Christmas list. You’ve mapped out management zones using data from a Veris machine or imagery from a satellite. You have GPS-referenced yield maps and a GreenSeeker in your back pocket. You are the farmer who loves a good gadget and wants imagery to make field… Read More
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… Read More
There are few things as lovely on the Canadian Prairies as a blooming field of canola (flax comes to mind, but who wants to deal with the resulting residue? Egads.) Yes, canola’s yellow flowers sure are pretty, but did you know they’re also food? For the sclerotinia pathogen, that is. That means that as the… Read More
As canola moves into flower, farmers are doing a great job scouting, scouting and doing more scouting. If you’re like most farmers, though, seeing insects immediately raises a red flag. While, yes, there are several pest species of note in the canola crop, not everything that moves or crawls on the crop is a pest…. Read More
Few crops are hyper-competitive right off the start. A cool spring can also mean that the crop you want to take off doesn’t, and the weeds get a head start. This is especially true of winter annuals which begin growing as soon as the snow recedes, but also applies to spring germinating weeds as well…. Read More
We’ve finally got a crop up in Western Canada, but as soon as those tiny canola plants emerge the attacks begin. Seedling blights are one concern at the establishment phase, but flea beetles can be a huge threat to the canola crop. In this episode of the Canola School, Lyndsey Smith is joined by Canola… Read More
Have you walked your canola fields shortly after emergence only to find several seedlings struggling and dying off or found seeds rotting in the furrow? Even treated seed can’t fully overcome the pressure of the seedling disease complex endemic to all of Western Canada’s canola growing region, especially if canola is seeded too deep or… Read More