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John Guelly tweeted this photo during this year’s harvest with the warning: “When ur out swathing, spraying or harvesting, keep an eye out 4 patches that look brown & dead like this.” Although clubroot wasn’t the cause in this case, taking a proactive approach is critical to managing the disease, which is continuing its relentless march across the province.
Canola, Crops

The Year That Was: Clubroot continued its deadly march in 2019

The disease didn't make the headlines in 2019 but its assault on Alberta continued

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The rapid spread of clubroot in the last decade will continue in the coming one if canola growers don’t start to get ahead of the disease. “The resistance is being overcome already, and some of those cases are pretty significant and serious infestations,” said Dan Orchard, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. “In […] Read more
Clubroot is scary enough but this Canola Council of Canada video on the life cycle of the disease ups the fear factor. Above, a still from the video (available at www.clubroot.ca) shows a zoospore, an amoeba-like creature released from a clubroot spore when it senses a host plant is nearby. The zoospore, powered by two whip-like flagella, can swim a short distance in water film in the soil towards a root hair. It then clamps on and penetrates the root hair and just like in the sci-fi horror classic “Alien,” begins to reproduce. 
Canola, Crops

A two-year break can prevent a clubroot horror show

Clubroot spores live for 20 years but new research says a 
surprising 99 per cent die in two years — if infestations are light

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*[UPDATED: Dec. 28, 2018] Still growing a canola-wheat rotation? One more year between canola crops could make a huge difference when it comes to clubroot. “Recent research has shown that 95 to 99 per cent of spores die over a two-year break,” said Dan Orchard, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. “We were […] Read more
These clubroot galls are small but this is exactly what you should be looking for when scouting because your best chance to manage an infestation is to detect it in its early stages.
Canola, Crops, News

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

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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 […] Read more
Canola, Crops

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 


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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 […] Read more
Canola, Crops

Ten is the magic number for canola

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In a year like 2015, the little things add up. “If we get lots of moisture early in the spring, you can just about broadcast your canola and it will grow,” Dan Orchard said at the Farming Smarter conference earlier this month. “But when years are tough, that’s when a lot of these little things […] Read more
Canola, Crops

It was a year like no other for canola crops

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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,” […] Read more
Agronomist Dan Orchard had good and bad news for growers at a recent Alberta Canola Producers meeting.
Crops

The clubroot onslaught continues — but there is some hopeful news

Alberta fields are seeing massive numbers of clubroot spores, but new research has found a 90 per cent drop-off after a two-year break

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Clubroot’s march through Alberta is relentless and the level of infestation here is 100 times — or even 1,000 times — worse than in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. But there is a bit of good news: Moving to a three-year rotation is more effective than previously believed, says a Canola Council of Canada agronomist. “New work […] Read more
A new multigenic clubroot-resistant variety will be a boon for some canola growers, but it’s not ‘a saviour,’ says agronomist Dan Orchard.
Canola, Crops

New canola variety a milestone in the battle against clubroot

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

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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

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