Kendra Reimert, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, says keeping clubroot spore numbers low and existing clubroot local are key to managing the disease.

Big clubroot numbers urge new vigilance

If you had it last year you probably have it this year — but it’s not the end of the world

Reading Time: 5 minutes Higher clubroot numbers in 2024 make the case for increased vigilance by Alberta canola growers in the coming season.

Verticillium stripe and blackleg symptoms can look similar, but once you know what you’re looking for, they can be quickly differentiated.

Researchers study verticillium yield losses

Team behind blackleg and clubroot yield loss models tackles new canola disease

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canola industry leaders have been worried about verticillium stripe and its impact on crop yields for several years. Reports out of Europe suggest the fungal disease could cause losses of 10 to 50 percent on oilseed rape. However, extreme losses are usually confined to a small number of fields in England and […] Read more


Pulling canola plants and checking them for galls may be the best way to scout for clubroot.

Cut clubroot off at the pass by thinking ahead

Resistant varieties not enough to tackle this disease of canola

Reading Time: 4 minutes Resistant canola varieties have played a major role in the war on clubroot but they are not enough on their own, say agronomists. An effective fight against the soil-borne, canola-targeting disease requires several solutions and fall is the time to think about them. “Because clubroot is such a complex disease, it’s really important that we […] Read more

Investing in clubroot research

Investing in clubroot research

Reading Time: < 1 minute Clubroot research in Alberta is getting a big boost. Results Driven Agriculture Research, the Alberta Canola Producers Commission and the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission have awarded $1.25 million to Stephen Strelkov at the University of Alberta to lead an expert team in: As part of the five-year project, the team is expected to contribute to […] Read more


New clubroot strains discovered

New clubroot strains discovered

Some resistant canola varieties are susceptible

Reading Time: < 1 minute University of Alberta researchers say new strains of clubroot have been discovered in fields across the Prairies, including several capable of infecting canola plants bred to resist the disease.  They identified 25 unique clubroot pathotypes from samples collected from more than 250 fields in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2019 and 2020. Seven of the […] Read more

AAFC researcher Fengqun Yu, right, and a research team member inspect an infected plant at Saskatoon’s
research and development centre.

Clubroot ‘race profiling’ can help boost resistance in canola

Research team sets stage for next generation of resistance to pesky crop disease

Reading Time: 4 minutes Racial profiling is not a term most people would want to be associated with. But with clubroot it’s different; it means the ability to select a canola variety that not only resists clubroot in general, but specific “races” of the disease of canola and other brassica plants. When it happens, thank an AAFC research team […] Read more


Researcher Nicole Fox found applying moderate to high amounts of powdered lime resulted in canola plants that were still productive even if infected by clubroot.

Lime shows promise for controlling clubroot in canola

The lime works by neutralizing the highly acidic soil preferred by clubroot, reducing the likelihood of spore germination and plant infection

Reading Time: 2 minutes Treating soil with lime could help farmers curtail clubroot infections in canola, new University of Alberta research suggests. Spot-treating soil with the mineral reduced the overall occurrence and severity of the disease by 35 to 91 per cent, growth experiments showed. The finding, published in the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, could give farmers an […] Read more

(Alberta Farmer Express photo by Jennifer Blair)

Clubroot diagnosis no longer a death sentence

The disease continues its relentless spread across Alberta — but the risk has become more manageable

Reading Time: 5 minutes John Guelly felt as though he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness when he found clubroot in his canola fields nearly 10 years ago. But in the decade since then, the Westlock-area farmer has come to view the disease as more of a chronic condition — still risky, still potentially devastating, but ultimately manageable […] Read more


Canola can look healthy but still be infected with clubroot as agronomy specialist Autumn Barnes demonstrates in this Canola Council of Canada video. That’s why it’s now recommended that farmers only grow resistant varieties (but also scout regularly and don’t use tight rotations).

Taking the path of least resistance opens door to clubroot ‘disaster’

Only use resistant cultivars, says canola council, and back it up with scouting and longer rotations

Reading Time: 4 minutes Canola growers should keep one simple message in mind when choosing their varieties for next year’s growing season: Every acre needs to be clubroot resistant. “What we’re trying to do is really focus on using clubroot resistance as part of a proactive, integrated prevention or management plan for every canola acre,” said Autumn Barnes, agronomy […] Read more

Of the 36 unique clubroot pathotypes that have been found on the Prairies, 19 of them are able to overcome first-generation resistance, limiting plant growth and potential yield.

(Genetic) resistance is futile for new clubroot pathotypes

Over half of the unique clubroot pathotypes in Alberta able to overcome first-generation resistance

Reading Time: 4 minutes New clubroot pathotypes are emerging in canola fields across the Prairies — and clubroot-resistant varieties might not be enough to stop the spread. “The most worrisome part about this is the fact that a lot of these new pathotypes are able to overcome traditional first-generation resistance,” said Keisha Hollman, who led the study at the […] Read more