A non-winter for much of Ontario and a milder-than-average early spring for parts of Western Canada has got farmers and entomologists on high alert. Parts of Ontario are as much as two or three weeks ahead of the 10-year average for growing degree accumulation, and because insect development is driven by heat, those first crops… Read More

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s decision to restrict the use of lambda-cyhalothrin products for the 2023 growing season could have a significant impact on how growers manage corn, soybean and cereal crops this season. Lambda-cyhalothrin, the active ingredient in some the most commonly used insecticides growers use to control yield-robbing pests such as soybean aphids… Read More

Soybean aphid numbers are building quickly in several fields in Ontario, and farmers have already had to book an insecticide pass to get ahead of the pest. In this week’s Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson says reports have come in from the Milverton area and Eastern Ontario with aphids at or above threshold. It… Read More

Last week’s insect alert of weevil hitting second-year alfalfa fields has now been expanded to include the potato leafhopper and more acres. Leafhopper can be especially hard on newly-seeded alfalfa, even if it is a resistant variety. The resistant trait is not expressed in the first growing season, explains Peter Johnson, resident agronomist for RealAgriculture…. Read More

Several reports of poor regrowth on second- or later-year alfalfa in the Niagara and other Ontario regions seems to be caused by one culprit: alfalfa weevil. Agronomists are reporting scouting fields that have already reached threshold for the pest (see photos below). Because of early season heat, some established fields of alfalfa were cut relatively… Read More