Our three experts have pinpointed fusarium head blight as the No. 1 disease to watch out for this year — but keep an eye on these ones, too.

Three more crop diseases to watch for in 2017

Syngenta exits canola seed business
Canola growers checking out Syngenta Canada’s 2018 seed guide for Western Canada will notice canola by its absence. Syngenta, which entered the Prairie canola seed market in 2013 and by this spring had six hybrid varieties on offer, said in a statement it has “recently taken the decision to exit the canola seed business.” The[...]
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Clubroot arrives in Ontario canola
Ontario has its first case of clubroot disease in canola — and further testing has confirmed clubroot in canola fields across the province. During the 2016 growing season an agronomist in the Verner area of northern Ontario examined a canola field and found the distinctive clubbed roots, said Meghan Moran, canola and edible bean specialist[...]
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It’s been perfect conditions for clubroot
Wet conditions not only increase spore counts but may also favour development of strains able to overcome resistant varieties
Reading Time: 2 minutes This year’s wet conditions may leave a nasty legacy — more clubroot infestation and more strains of the pathogen able to overcome resistant varieties. “In the years where there is more wet weather, we expect to have more severe symptoms and more widespread infestation,” said Stephen Strelkov, a University of Alberta professor of plant pathology[...]
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Extreme infestation may require extreme treatment
In really bad cases, putting a few acres into grass or forages may be the best way to contain clubroot pathogen
Reading Time: 2 minutes Growers with extreme clubroot infestation are being told that the best option might not be to just stop growing canola for a while, but all annual crops in parts of a field. Seeding patches of heavily infested ground to grass or forages is now on the list of clubroot management practices recommended by the Canola[...]
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Double-resistant canola variety now available
But the first variety with ‘multigenic’ resistance is not a silver bullet, experts warn
Reading Time: 2 minutes A new hybrid canola cultivar that offers double resistance to clubroot has been registered and is now available to farmers. Proven Seed PV 580 GC was developed by University of Alberta canola breeder Habibur Rahman and Crop Production Services (CPS). It carries a resistance gene from Mendel, a European winter canola cultivar, and a second[...]
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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[...]
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Lots of knowledge on tap at Agronomy Update 2016
Conference in Red Deer runs Jan. 19-20
Reading Time: < 1 minute New clubroot strains and ways to reduce fusarium damage are two of the topics featured at Agronomy Update 2016 in Red Deer on Jan. 19-20. The annual conference will also feature presentations on phosphorus and potassium decline; new wheat classes; marketing peas and fababeans; plant growth regulators; adding diversity to crop rotations; updates on wireworms[...]
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Cinderella story: Canola crushes yield expectations despite rocky start
Whatever the reason for the surprisingly good yields, growers urged to stick to recommended practices this spring
Reading Time: 3 minutes This year was a head-scratcher for canola growers across the Prairies. “For a lot of our producers, it was a drought year, with a bumper crop and a wet harvest — those things shouldn’t go together,” said Keith Gabert, agronomist with the Canola Council of Canada. This year looked like it would be a wreck[...]
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It was a year like no other for canola crops
Reading Time: < 1 minute It was a year when breaking the rules paid off for canola producers. Seeding deep and seeding late frequently produced better results than seeding early and shallow, which is rarely the case. And reseeding paid off, too. “There were a lot of things that worked this year that I hope you don’t do next year,”[...]
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