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

Flea beetles, those tiny, hungry pests, feed on seedling leaf tissue in your canola fields almost every season. Their feeding on young canola plants causes the most economic damage. Understanding the pest and its lifecycle can help determine when control may be necessary, even if you’ve used a seed treatment. The two dominant species of… Read More

DuPont announced today that Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has granted approval for the registration of Lumiderm insecticide seed treatment. DuPont Lumiderm insecticide is a new seed treatment product for canola growers containing the active ingredient cyantraniliprole, a Group 28, anthranilic diamide insecticide that provides early season control of flea beetles, both striped and… Read More

What, indeed. If you just read the title and aren’t sure, the short answer is nothing. The longer answer, however, is that tram lines may make scouting for insects easier and more thorough, and thus beneficial. Not convinced? Read on. Some insects are predictably found on the edge of the field — like flea beetles,… Read More

If there’s two things I learned from the GIJOE cartoons in the eighties it’s that 1) GIJOE must have a strict catch and release policy because I don’t recall any members of COBRA being killed and they come back every week. 2) Knowing is half the battle!(they said it at the end of every episode)… Read More

The flea beetle is a menace to canola crops.  Typically seed treatments like Helix Xtra and Prosper have controlled flea beetles with ease and uncontrollable populations were relatively rare.  The feeding of seed treatment protected plants controlled the crucifer flea beetle which was great for farmers. The striped flea beetle has been showing up in… Read More

Assessing risk is a crucial part of any producer’s pest control strategy. If you don’t know what to look for or how to look for it, you are setting yourself up for some potentially costly problems. That risk assessment starts with a good knowledge of the previous year including hotspots for activity, and overall movement… Read More