flowering canola field

Canola acres set to jump, but so will the risk of disease

Canola plantings are expected to increase by about one million acres, 
and that means more disease risk

Reading Time: 3 minutes Canola could top out at over 24 million acres in Canada this year — one million more acres than growers planted in 2017. “With the relative return right now, canola is looking better than wheat,” said Murray Hartman, oilseed specialist for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “If these kinds of price signals continue or strengthen in […] Read more

Workshops are being held across the region to arm farmers with best practices for combating the devastating canola disease.

Peace Country farmers told the time to halt clubroot is now

Workshops are being held across the region to arm farmers with best practices for combating the devastating canola disease

Reading Time: 2 minutes Clubroot was found in the Peace last summer — and that’s prompted an all-out effort to mobilize the farm community to do everything possible to halt the spread of the disease. Officials from the ag research group SARDA and local municipalities along with ag fieldmen are hosting workshops at seven different locations so producers can […] Read more


If you’re growing non-resistant canola varieties, you could wake up one day to find ‘astronomical’ levels of clubroot spores, says agronomist Dan Orchard.

Imagine you couldn’t grow canola, warns farm leader

Clubroot’s arrival in the Peace isn’t a shocker, but it’s another sign 
farmers are flirting with disaster, say canola experts

Reading Time: 5 minutes In the war between canola producers and clubroot, clubroot is winning. “The clubroot-infested area is spreading at roughly about 30 kilometres a year, and we’re only managing it at 20 kilometres a year,” said Dan Orchard, agronomy specialist for the Canola Council of Canada. “We got an appreciation this year for just how fast it […] Read more

Depending on moisture conditions this summer, sclerotinia could be an issue in canola, Keith Gabert says.

High moisture levels could drive up canola diseases across province

Sclerotinia can reduce canola yields by up to 50 per cent — but a well-timed fungicide application can prevent some of those losses

Reading Time: 4 minutes It may be a little bit early to guess, but canola agronomist Keith Gabert predicts that sclerotinia will be a problem in canola crops this summer. “We always assume that we’re going to have sclerotinia issues,” said the Canola Council of Canada agronomist. “Typically, sclerotinia germinates under good moisture conditions, so we’re making the assumption […] Read more


Four canola diseases to watch for

Four canola diseases to watch for

Is that canola crop afflicted by blackleg, root rot, both, or something else entirely? It’s a messy question farmers and agronomists encounter every year. Presenters tried to untangle those problems at CanoLAB in Vermilion this winter. Here are four diseases to watch for in canola fields this summer, and tips on diagnosing them.

A new multigenic clubroot-resistant variety will be a boon for some canola growers, but it’s not ‘a saviour,’ says agronomist Dan Orchard.

New canola variety a milestone in the battle against clubroot

Double resistance a big step forward, but clubroot strains are quickly multiplying

Reading Time: 3 minutes A new canola variety resistant to multiple strains of clubroot will hit the market in time for spring seeding. But the new variety from Crop Production Services will only be available in limited quantities and a clubroot expert says growers can’t expect it to be “a saviour.” CPS Canada says the variety, Proven Seed PV[...]
Read more