Stripe rust has been confirmed in the Ontario winter wheat crop. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness plant pathologist Albert Tenuta shared the news at the Ridgetown agribusiness breakfast meeting this week. The disease can cause up to 50 per cent yield loss if not managed properly. It was confirmed after samples collected by… Read More

Setting canola up for a strong start isn’t always easy, especially in dry soils, with lurking pests, and unpredictable spring weather. A few key decisions made at seeding can set the stage for strong emergence and an eventual successful harvest, too. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Canola School, Dana Riley, tech service specialist with BASF,… Read More

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Pests & Predators podcast! Host Shaun Haney is joined by Dr. Héctor Cárcamo, entomologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Lethbridge, to dig into beneficial insects and the use of  Canada wasps to help control lygus bugs and reduce insecticide use. In this episode, Cárcamo outlines… Read More

While every bag of certified canola seed in Canada comes with a base seed treatment, what exactly does that protection include — and is there value in going beyond the basics? The answers to these questions are ones that Anique Josuttes, technical marketing specialist with BASF, seeks to explore in this episode of RealAgriculture’s Canola… Read More

Planning for the growing season isn’t just about seed choices and fertilizer rates — penciling in and choosing crop protection products is crucial to protecting yield and quality. That said, just because a product is approved for use doesn’t automatically mean farmers have the all-clear to use it, depending on the crop’s destination. Greg Bartley,… Read More

Those quick-burrowing, pesky nuisances known as gophers were a source of a good amount of lost canola yield in 2024. Some canola fields were devastated, requiring re-seeding, while a cereal field right next to the canola would go untouched, says Dr. James Tansey, provincial insect and vertebrate pest management specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture… Read More

Understanding what keeps beneficial insects thriving is just as important as what keeps pests at bay, but ideal conditions for parasitoids and predators aren’t well understood. Abbe Pawluk used her masters studies at the University of Lethbridge to explore the impact on habitat quality on specific parasitoid wasps to try and gauge if certain types… Read More

On this episode of The Agronomists, host Lyndsey Smith is joined by Tracey Baute with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, and Tyler Wist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to discuss early season insect management. On the list: wireworm, cutworms, flea beetles, and slugs; plus we dig in to pre-seeding selection impacts on wheat… Read More

Tar spot was first confirmed in Ontario at Ridgetown in the southwest corner of the province in 2020. Since then, the corn leaf disease has spread across Ontario, pushing east past Toronto and into Quebec. Many Ontario farmers experienced the yield robber in their fields for the first time in 2024 and the disease is… Read More