The province received variable precipitation this spring which had pathologists and producers expecting the arrival of members of the leaf spot complex. However, Kelly Turkington with the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lacombe Research and Development Centre said they may have been scorched by the July heat wave.
Cereal leaf disease minimal in Alberta but be aware of blown-in stripe rust
Learn more about blackleg management in canola
Reading Time: < 1 minute Although scouting for blackleg (and assessment of potential damage) usually occurs near the end of the growing season, the most critical stage of infection is actually at the cotyledon stage. Using available videos, graphics and explanations to clarify the key blackleg resistance concepts can help farmers with proactive decision-making for maximum disease management. Browsing a […] Read more
What pathogen tests should you use for canola?
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canola Council of Canada encourages farmers to use soil testing for the presence of clubroot DNA, stubble tests for blackleg and verticillium stripe, and additional tests for the presence of sclerotinia stem rot spores. These tests have proven reliable. While these are the major canola pathogens, they are a small sample of the organisms […] Read more
Bacterial leaf streak in 2023
Reading Time: < 1 minute Bacterial leaf streak is an emerging disease in the Prairies. In 2023, Michael Harding’s provincial team conducted a province-wide survey to see where it is being found. Most of the infections were in Vulcan, Taber and Newell counties. However, one positive field was found at a more northern location, in Athabasca County. If the survey […] Read more
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
CMBTC study finds new malting barley lines a fit for Manitoba
Agronomic traits in new varieties overcome disease issues that held crop back
Manitoba farmers have improved prospects to access the more-lucrative malting barley market, according to a recent study. The report by the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC), in collaboration with the Manitoba Crop Alliance, says new Canadian malting barley varieties can be grown successfully in Manitoba. With yields and quality comparable to the check variety […] Read more
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
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
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
Orange juice prices near all-time high as storm hits Florida
Crop was already expected to be small
New York | Reuters — Orange juice prices at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) rose more than three per cent on Wednesday, heading back toward an all-time high hit earlier this month, as storm Idalia slammed parts of main U.S. orange producer Florida. Contracts for frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) at ICE hit a high of […] Read more
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