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
Category: Canola Disease, Weeds & Insects
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
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
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
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
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
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
It’s certainly not a disease you want to find in your fields, but if you do, there are good reasons to talk about it — specifically, report it — says Michael Harding, research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “If it’s the first time clubroot’s been found in the field, by reporting it, you can get… Read More
According to speakers at last week’s Canola Galla in Penhold, AB, a single gram of soil (roughly the size of a Smartie) can contain hundreds — if not thousands or even millions — of resting clubroot spores. And, those resting spores can survive up to 20 years in the soil, spreading by catching rides on wind, water,… Read More
While you’re in the field checking canola to see if it’s ready to be cut, or perhaps already swathing or harvesting it, it’s also a good time to assess the toll disease took on your crop. Sclerotinia, blackleg and clubroot can all cause premature ripening, as disease symptoms become more obvious at the end of the season,… Read More
Boron’s complete role in plant health is not entirely understood, but the nutrient does play a key role in cell elongation, hormone response and membrane function. Boron is a micronutrient necessary for optimal yield and growth, but needed in only very small quantities. In Western Canada, trials surrounding boron have shown inconsistencies in yield response,… Read More
It should come as no surprise to insect geeks that the ash-grey insect above with a rather distracting snout is a weevil. More specifically, it’s a cabbage seedpod weevil (Ceutorhynchus obstrictus), an insect pest that has been infecting canola crops (and other Brassicaceae species) in Alberta since the mid-1990s, and it has since moved across the southern portion… Read More
As a diverse set of volunteers in the agriculture industry, it’s hard to assign a worth to the work beneficial insects accomplish, but their absence can speak volumes, if you’re listening. To showcase that, Jim Broatch, pest management specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, talks root maggots in this Canola School, and how an insecticide application… Read More
Unless it’s too late and you’ve already found clubroot symptoms in your canola, you won’t know whether you have it without getting tested. This Canola School episode focuses on testing for clubroot and how to go about determining whether clubroot spores are present in the soil. Finding the nasty soil-borne disease when spore loads are still low… Read More
With seeding underway, it’s easy to switch the drill from cereals to canola and just continue rolling. However, Angela Brackenreed of the Canola Council of Canada has a reminder in this wet and windy Canola School episode: a clean, weed-free start to the growing season is more important than an early start. Dig into the Canola… Read More