There are few things as frustrating as spending untold hours of preparation and seeding (and finally some rain!) only to have a host of insects crawl or fly in and eat the crop’s yield potential. In this episode of the Canola School, provincial entomologist for Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Agriculture, James Tansey, gets outside to talk… Read More
Category: Flea Beetles
Seeing dimpling on your canola leaves? Stem feeding? Chances are, it’s flea beetles causing the damage. This year in the southern prairies, flea beetles are becoming a significant issue, most likely in part due to dry conditions. And with neonicotinoids continuing to hit headlines, flea beetle control could become even more difficult in the coming… Read More
As temperatures warm, fields across the west are starting to see flea beetle emergence, and cotyledon defoliation. And that has producers wondering about when to take action. “There’s been some discussion about different threshold levels,” says Errin Willenborg, agronomist with Federated Co-op Ltd. The discussion stems from confusion around two listed thresholds — the 25… Read More
Across the Western Prairies, flea beetles are starting to pop up in canola crops. As your canola crop moves from the cotyledon stage to the first true leaf stage, you want to ensure you are keeping an eye on potential feeding. In this episode of Real Agriculture’s Canola School, Kara Oosterhuis talks to Autumn Barnes,… Read More
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
Regulatory restrictions are not on the radar in Manitoba, but the province’s agriculture entomologist suggests farmers in Western Canada should ask themselves “why?” before using neonicotinoid seed treatments. The Ontario and Quebec governments are restricting the use of insecticide-treated seed in response to concerns about neonics hurting bee health, but there haven’t been the same problems with pollinator populations… 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
It’s rare to find a western Canadian farmer who doesn’t have a tale to tell of the roaring comebacks canola has made in a growing season. Sure, there have been some wrecks — wicked windstorms that flip swaths or hail that leaves nothing but sticks — but the “Cinderella crop” (you’ve heard the song, right?)… 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
If you scouted your canola field for flea beetle damage even a day or two ago, it’s time to get out there and do it again. Kristen Phillips, agronomy specialist in Manitoba for the Canola Council of Canada, is reporting a few thousand acres near Brandon will have to be reseeded because of excessive flea… Read More