You may have only got up close and personal to fababeans at a field day (such as Canolapalooza in Lacombe in 2019) but the pulse may soon be more widely grown — especially if aphanomyces limits the ability to grow peas and lentils every three or four years.

What can you grow if root rot kicks out peas and lentils?

You may need an eight-year break between those crops, but there are some other pulses to consider

Reading Time: 5 minutes With aphanomyces threatening peas and lentils, what can producers do to keep pulses in the rotation? Pulse growers are being urged to go up to eight years between plantings of either peas or lentils, which dominate pulse acres in the province. “Our susceptible crops are pea and lentil and, to a lesser extent, dry bean. […] Read more

The yellow patches indicate that aphanomyces root rot has reached an advanced stage. But even if detected earlier, there’s nothing that can be done save not planting peas in this field for several years.

STACKED DECK: Root rot pathogen holds all the cards

You can’t spray aphanomyces or buy resistant varieties, so longer rotations are the only tool

Reading Time: 3 minutes Hard to spot, impossible to treat, and no resistant varieties. So when aphanomyces root rot does show up, you know you’ve got a long-term problem. “Once you see it, you kind of get scared and realize you’re stuck with it for a bit,” said Bow Island producer Will Müller. Because it is a soil-borne pathogen […] Read more


Root rot on peas — severe infestations can cut yields by 70 per cent while aphanomyces spores can linger in the soil for years.

Aphanomyces could become the new clubroot

Researcher recommends pea and lentil growers consider a seven-year break between crops

Reading Time: 5 minutes If not managed correctly, aphanomyces could be the next clubroot. And since longer rotations are the only effective management tool, pulse growers battling the soil-borne pathogen that causes root rot in peas and lentils could be facing a big-time reshuffling of what they grow. “Our recommendation now is to think about going one in eight […] Read more

When combined, fusarium and aphanomyces root rots increase the likelihood and severity of disease in pea fields, said plant pathologist Syama Chatterton.

Root rot pathogens deliver one-two punch to pea fields

Reading Time: 3 minutes Two root rot pathogens are teaming up to wreak havoc in Alberta’s pea fields. “Before 2016, I thought that we were just dealing with fusarium root rot in the brown soil zone, but 2016 completely changed that hypothesis,” said Syama Chatterton, plant pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “We saw a lot of aphanomyces root […] Read more


This pea field near Three Hills was devastated by root rot in 2014, 
but pea growers saw fewer disease problems in 2015.

Root rot pathogen lying in wait

Aphanomyces can persist for a decade in soil and are just waiting for another wet year

Reading Time: 3 minutes Syama Chatterton had a hunch that pea root rots would be less of a problem in a dry year. And sometimes, she said, “it’s nice to be right.” “Root rot severity was definitely lower in 2015 compared to what we had seen in 2013 and 2014, which were very wet years,” the federal research scientist […] Read more

Packed agenda for agronomy update

Reading Time: < 1 minute More than two dozen speakers will be offering their insights at Agronomy Update in Red Deer on Jan. 19-20. Topics include aphanomyces, clubroot, fungicide timing, P and K decline, straight combining canola, insect control, and managing herbicide resistance. The conference kicks off with presentations on field crops pathology followed by soil management, grain marketing, and crops […] Read more