That simple idea sparked a four-year research project at the University of Manitoba, where Yvonne Lawley, associate professor of plant science, and Alejandro Costamagna, professor of entomology, have been testing whether standing cover from fall rye or spring-seeded nurse crops can reduce early feeding.

The work was demonstrated publicly at a University of Manitoba field day in Carman this past July.

WHY IT MATTERS: Flea beetles remain one of the Prairie’s most frustrating canola pests, and early feeding damage can push growers toward costly in-season sprays.

The concept started with a social media thread.

Several farmers had accidentally left fall rye standing too long in spring, then noticed their canola seedlings seemed to suffer less defoliation. Rather than brush off the anecdote, after a gentle nudge from her grad students, Lawley dipped her toe into the discussion, then quickly became immersed.

“Agronomists and farmers were sharing their collective observations in the social media space about this effect,” she said.

Those discussions led to a formal study with support from Manitoba Canola Growers and funding from CARP (Canola Agronomic Research Program). The goal was to test whether a living cover could shield canola long enough for seedlings to outgrow their most vulnerable stages.

Small-plot findings

Graduate student Aleksander Zashev walked tour attendees through four seasons of small-plot trials comparing fall rye termination timings. Late termination — holding off until canola reached the two-leaf stage — consistently led to less defoliation and fewer flea beetles. However, those same treatments also posed the highest risk of yield loss. In two of the four years, tall rye shaded the canola enough to drag yields down.

A clear pattern was emerging: more biomass meant more protection, but the added competition risked greater yield losses.

Spring-seeded oats were also evaluated as a nurse crop because they pose far less agronomic risk than fall rye. Oats emerge later and grow shorter, so they are far less likely to shade canola seedlings. The oat treatments produced little change in defoliation or flea beetle numbers, except in one case at a higher seeding rate. The results were predictable, but still useful: they reinforced the pattern seen with rye — biomass is the main driver of the hiding effect.

Lawley said the challenge is finding the sweet spot between maximum hiding and minimal shading. Waiting until canola reaches the two-leaf stage offers the strongest hiding effect, but that same biomass can shade seedlings and slow early growth.

Data showed the most balanced option was terminating when canola was still at the cotyledon stage. Because glyphosate doesn’t kill the rye immediately, the standing plants provide a short window of protection before they die off.

“We have a seven-day window before that fall rye is terminated,” said Lawley.

Taking it to the field

Graduate student Raquel Chinchin Talavera presented the on-farm phase of the study. That phase was launched in 2024 with four co-operating growers in the south-central region of the Red River Valley. Full-field strips, 36-metres wide, were seeded with and without a cover crop to see whether the small-plot trends hold under real farm conditions.

Early observations show slightly more flea beetles in bare canola strips than in strips with a living nurse crop, though the wider spacing between monitoring traps means overall counts are lower than in the small plots. Yield data from the second season is still pending.

While the research has validated that standing cover can interrupt flea beetle activity, Lawley wants growers to be cautious in how they interpret the early results. There are still many unknowns. Row orientation, stand density and fertility management could all influence outcomes. And, significantly, the agronomic costs (yield hits from competition, shading, moisture use and possible nitrogen tie-up) are real.

So, would Lawley recommend this for large acres at this point?

“No, we’re still working on it,” she said. “I feel like it’s still a high-risk practice for canola at this point.”

Where it could lead

Despite the uncertainty, she sees potential. Growers already experimenting with fall rye or spring nurse crops for soil health or weed management may one day be able to layer flea beetle suppression into those systems. But before any of this becomes a recommendation, researchers need to fine-tune the agronomy enough to reduce the risk of yield penalties.

The project concludes its CARP-funded phase after the 2025 season, but Lawley has already seeded more fall rye to continue teasing apart the variables. She hopes future work can answer questions about seeding rate, termination timing, nitrogen management and how to optimize cover without compromising stand establishment. The biggest unknown remains how the flea beetle feeding process is disrupted.

“We still don’t understand the mechanism of how flea beetles are seeing, smelling, sensing the canola, and how having living cover interrupts it,” she said.

“It would be worthwhile trying to understand that mechanism so we can optimize this practice.”

For now, the idea remains a promising possibility rather than a new tool — a reminder that Prairie innovation often starts with a farmer noticing something odd, and a curious researcher willing to follow the thread.

“We’ve validated the observation that cover crops can hide canola from flea beetles. Now we need to de-risk it.”

The post Cereal cover crops show mixed flea beetle protection appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

It’s a strange topic to inject into a conversation, but Wist is used to it and expects it to happen.

“At least once at every show, someone goes, ‘well, you need to plant marigolds around your plants and (then) you won’t get flea beetles,’” said Wist, a field crop entomologist with Agriculture Canada in Saskatoon and a flea beetle expert.

Do marigolds repel pests?

Wist has heard the “marigolds repel pests” comment so many times that he decided to test the concept this growing season at Ag in Motion, held July 15-17 near Langham, Sask.

“I thought … if people are going to keep (telling) me this, I maybe should do this experiment,” Wist said.

“It’s (really) a demo plot. I wouldn’t call it an experiment.”

At the show, Wist has canola plots that are surrounded by marigolds to see if the flowers can deter flea beetles from chomping on canola plants. Every spring, striped or crucifer flea beetles will invade canola fields somewhere in Western Canada, devastating the crop and sometimes forcing farmers to re-seed their fields.

Wist is one of several Agriculture Canada scientists who have crop plots at Ag In Motion. In total, about two dozen companies and organizations have crop plots at AIM, where agronomists and crop management experts will talk about the latest varieties, disease management and methods to control annoying pests such as flea beetles.

Wist knows it’s unlikely that a commercial-scale farmer, with 8,000 acres of land, is going to plant thousands of marigolds next to their canola field.

Luring flea beetles into a trap crop

However, another cultural practice could be more feasible – seeding a trap crop near the canola. The basic idea is to lure the beetles into the trap crop and then hit them with an insecticide.

One possibility for a trap crop is radishes.

“When we (as researchers) try to grow colonies of flea beetles, we feed them various (plants),” Wist said.

“If you give them the choice between canola and radish, the adult flea beetles prefer to feed on radish.”

To test out this theory, Wist and his team planted a trap crop by his canola plots at Ag in Motion to see if flea beetles could be lured into the trap.

Wist emphasized that this isn’t a full-scale, replicated experiment. It’s a demonstration of using trap crops to control flea beetles and also a way to start a conversation with canola growers who are weary of battling flea beetles every spring.

Trap crops for other pests

Other scientists have studied trap crops for other pests, such as pea leaf weevils that attack field peas.

Meghan Vankosky, an entomologist who also works for Agriculture Canada in Saskatoon, did an experiment where she seeded a strip of field peas or fababeans in July so that the strip would attract weevils in late August or September.

“In the fall, the new generation of adults come out and they’re looking for anything green to eat…. If we had a trap strip along the edge of a field, that would attract those new generation adults,” she said.

“What we wanted to know … could we use trap crops in the spring or in the fall, to aggregate weevil populations and control them?”

The results? The trap crops performed as expected.

“(They) definitely worked to bring those weevils in,” Vankosky said.

A similar strategy might work for flea beetles, where a late summer trap crop could be used to kill flea beetles before they over-winter. Ideally, that would reduce the population of beetles for the following spring.

“If you have a trap crop growing at that point (in the summer), maybe you could draw in enough flea beetles,” Wist said.

“Give them something else (besides canola) … then spray those guys in a concentrated area.”

The post Entomologist tests trap crops and marigolds to repel flea beetles at an Ag in Motion appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

But as MarketsFarm analyst Bruce Burnett says in a recent Alberta Farmer Express article, “It’s not like there’s a magic commodity that you can switch to that would be instantly profitable if you’re trying to replace your canola acreage.”

The best option for canola producers may be to apply agronomy practices that can improve profits for little to no added cost, says the Canola Council of Canada (CCC), which earlier this spring posted the article, “9 agronomy tips to help increase canola profit” on its website.

Of those tips, the following featured:

Know the appropriate target plant stand

The “five to eight plants per square foot” rule has been a plant stand recommendation for canola for about as long as canola has existed.

Some recommend targeting the lower end of that range when seed costs are high and the crop selling price and yield are low. However, it’s essential to not go too low, the council says. Plant populations lower than five per square foot can compromise yield. Also, thin stands are more vulnerable to flea beetles and weed competition.

Target uniform seed emergence

Prioritizing a uniform plant population, in both the field and crop staging, can get a high-yielding crop off to a good start.

There are many ways to achieve this, but a few prominent methods include seeding into warmer soils, being mindful of proper seeding depth, leveling the drill and limiting seed-placed fertilizer. Keeping seeding tools well-maintained and slowing down when seeding also help.

Ideally, producers should seed into soil temperatures of 5 C or higher, particularly if there’s a good chance of warmer weather in the forecast. This should create “reasonably” good rates of seed survival and emergence, Jason Casselman, a CCC agronomy specialist at Fairview, Alta., said via email.

Seeding at one- to one-and-a-half inches below the packer furrow is the recommended seed depth for canola. This can reduce days to emergence as well as the seed energy necessary to emerge, he says. A depth of one inch is also the recommended start point in dry soils.

Leveling a seed drill calls for knowledge of the tool’s seeding depth range. For example, the overall seed depth average of a given drill may be one inch but the range could be zero to two inches.

“The result can be highly variable emergence date, reduced seed survival and an uneven field,” Casselman says.

“Follow the operator’s manuals to level the drill, check that openers are in good shape and inflate tires to the same pressure.”

Be mindful of how much fertilizer you’re placing in the seed row, he adds, as seed-placed fertilizer can increase seedling mortality. Limit seed-placed fertilizer to phosphate fertilizer at rates of up to 20 lbs./ac.

Choose seed with disease resistance

If you have fields with yield-robbing levels of blackleg, be sure to use blackleg-resistant canola varieties that match the blackleg races in that field. The council website can help producers find labs that test stubble for race, and also features a list identifying cultivars with blackleg-resistant genes.

Clubroot-resistant cultivars and higher sclerotinia stem rot tolerance can help reduce yield loss with relatively little additional cost, the CCC says. But resistant cultivars aren’t the only tool in this particular toolbox: starting off with more plants per square foot and an improved seed treatment may offset some need to spray.

Manage flea beetles with plant density

Much the same can be said for flea beetle management. If you’re planning one or more flea beetle sprays, target a higher number of plants per square foot. That, plus an improved seed treatment, may also offset the need to spray.

Meet crop needs for fertilizer

Generally speaking, you don’t want to cut fertilizer rates. While doing so may reduce upfront costs, the chances of improved profitability at season’s end are remote.

“Fertilizing for a 50 bu./ac. target yield is usually more profitable than fertilizing for a 40 bu./ac. target yield, as long as weather allows crops to get close to those targets,” the council says.

Casselman again recommends limiting seed-placed fertilizer to minimize seedling damage. For soils with low to medium phosphorus levels, he suggests placing a starter rate in the seed row (15-20 lbs. of phosphorus pentoxide, the equivalent of around 30 to 40 lbs./ac. of monoammonium phosphate (MAP)).

“Soil tests will often recommend a higher rate of phosphorus for canola, so the balance is best added into the fertilizer blend placed outside the seed row,” he says.

The risk of seed-placed fertilizer comes from the nitrogen component of ammonium phosphate, ammonium sulphate and all nitrogen fertilizers, he says.

“Ammonia can damage seedlings through direct toxicity while nitrate will damage seedlings by desiccation through the salt effect.

“These salts, when dissolved in soil water, have an osmotic effect that can hold back moisture from germinating seeds and seedlings. When soil moisture is lacking, this effect is worse for seed and seedlings.”

Potassium should stay out of the seed row because of its high salt index. The same goes for sulphur, which can damage seedlings when in close proximity.

“Canola has a much lower tolerance to seed-placed potassium than cereals, and stands can be reduced if seed-placed potassium rates exceed safe rates, especially with drills that have low seedbed utilization,” says Casselman.

It’s best to apply fertilizer at time of seeding. Doing so tends to avoid the kind of losses associated with fall application. It also eliminates the need for an in-crop top dress.

Control weeds early

Farmers are all too familiar with the dangers of weeds, but they should know canola’s yield potential is more vulnerable to early weed competition than most grains. That’s why early weed control is paramount.

“If a farmer budgets for two sprays, early applications cost the same as late applications, but early applications can increase yield and profit,” the council says.

“For perennials and winter annuals that have overwintered and for competitive annuals like kochia, a pre-seed tank-mixed burn-off is often the most economical first application.”

Cut when all seeds are firm to roll

Canola achieves optimum seed yield and quality when swathed at 60 per cent seed colour change (SCC) or later, the CCC says.

To estimate the SCC in your field, Casselman recommends taking a plant and dividing the main stem into thirds and then inspecting the stems from each third. At 60 per cent SCC, seeds from the top third of the main stem will still be green but firm to roll.

“Seeds from the middle third will be mostly brown, with some speckling and mottling. Seeds from the bottom third, the most mature, will have completely turned brown‑black in colour.”

The canola council set the 60 per cent target based on a multi-location study from the early 2000s, It found canola swathed at 50 to 60 per cent SCC on the main stem yielded at least eight per cent more than fields swathed at 30 to 40 per cent SCC. Canola swathed at 60 to 70 per cent SCC yielded 11 per cent more than fields swathed at 30 to 40 per cent.

Minimize combine loss

Harvest losses out of the back of a combine are not negligible. In fact, these losses can exceed 10 per cent of yield in challenging harvest conditions or when going too fast with a poorly-set combine.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure” applies here and in this case, management requires a drop pan, the CCC says.

“The right settings will require some trial and error, especially when learning the ropes with a new combine. Growers can reduce losses to one or two per cent with attention to detail and adjustment to changing harvest conditions.”

Rotate crops to improve yield

Generally, two- to three-year breaks between canola crops is considered enough to reduce crop disease severity, select for weed resistance and increase yield. Adding a third crop to a wheat-canola rotation isn’t easy, but the long-term benefits of doing so can improve canola profitability.

More specifically, a one-year break between canola crops can reduce carryover of blackleg fungus onto canola stubble, says Casselman. However, it takes a break of at least two full years (a one-in-three rotation) to reduce disease severity and yield loss risk.

A three-year break (a one-in-four rotation) for all intents and purposes eliminates yield loss risk from blackleg.

For clubroot, growing resistant hybrids is an effective tool when combined with a minimum two-year break between canola crops, Casselman says.

Evidence from three rotation studies in Canada — two at Normandin in Quebec’s Saguenay region and one in Alberta — indicates two years between host crops (one-in-three rotation) is the minimum rotation to manage clubroot spores in a field, he notes.

“Thomas Ernst, who did the Alberta study, observed an eight- to 20-fold drop in resting spore concentrations with a two-year break after growing clubroot-resistant canola. With a one-year break, Ernst found that resting spore numbers never dropped enough to provide any reduction in risk.”

According to Casselman, University of Saskatchewan professor Christian Willenborg, a weed scientist, declared volunteer canola the major weed associated with continuous canola cultivation. Volunteer canola covers a gamut of risk, from yield reduction to unwanted crop competition to higher disease build.

“They can also reduce harvest quality if volunteers mature later and increase green seed counts,” Casselman says.

Some tips for reducing volunteer canola include short breaks between canola crops, rotation of herbicide tolerance systems and using pre-seed and fall herbicide timing on top of in-crop applications.

“Rotation with other crops provides expanded options to rotate among herbicide groups. Winter cereals or perennial legumes can be part of a system of integrated weed management,” he says.

The post Good agronomy urged under uncertain canola market appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

On Sept. 17, Bayer announced that its Buteo start seed treatment has been registered for mustard in Western Canada.

“The damage caused by flea beetles at the start of the season impacts crop development long-term and can lead to significant yield loss,” Bryan Bryson, Bayer marketing portfolio lead for traits and licensing, said in a release.

The Group 4D, flupyradifurone-based product reached the Canadian market in 2020. Its label now covers early season control of flea beetles in canola, as well as soybean aphid and bean leaf beetle in soybeans, although promotional materials from the company heavily market the insecticide for its canola applications.

The company pitches the product for control of striped and crucifer flea beetles. Fact sheets published by the company cite canola trials done in 2019 in flea beetle-infested areas. Those trials found that a combination of Buteo start and the seed treatment ProsperEverGol (which is also registered for mustard), showed significantly less leaf damage from three to 17 days post-emergence, quicker crop progression and a thicker stand.

The insecticide “delivers rapid uptake and systemic translocation from cotyledon to leaf margins, enabling a quicker-growing canopy and uniform flowering, even in dry conditions where flea beetles thrive,” the Sept. 17 release said.

Mustard growers face many of the same agronomic challenges as canola growers do, the company noted, and that includes flea beetles.

The insects have been a perennial problem for canola growers. Several years of difficult spring conditions led to stalled stands while plants were vulnerable. Significant and sometimes repeated applications of foliar spray were needed once seed treatments wore off.

According to the Canola Council of Canada, heavy flea beetle infestation can cause a 10 per cent yield reduction even when insecticides are applied.

“A yield reduction of one per cent per acre results in a total crop loss of about 25 million to 35 million dollars,” the council’s website states. “Annual crop losses in North America from flea beetles potentially exceed 300 million dollars.”

According to the manual put out by the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission, “damage is most severe when the beetles attack the growing point of the plant. In cool moist conditions, scouting should include observing the underside of cotyledons for pitting and the stem for notching or girdling. Feeding on pods can result in premature shattering and grade loss.”

The post Western mustard growers get new flea beetle seed treatment option appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“The biggest challenge with flea beetles is we just don’t know,” he said. “We really can’t predict this particular insect pest, which is really humbling because it’s our No. 1 insect pest.”

To help producers get ahead of the threat, Gabert and the canola council have started a “Stand Up to Flea Beetles” campaign, with advice on how to prepare for an infestation.

Guard up

Much of Gabert’s advice centres on stand establishment. He recommends a density of five to eight plants per square foot to spread out damage. Assuming a fixed number of flea beetles, more plants means fewer insects per plant.

He also recommends shallow seeding in warm, moist soil. Seeding into moisture may allow for better germination but can result in poor or slow emergence so seed treatment protection runs out. He also warned against planting in cold conditions.

“That’s going to set you up for more concerns with flea beetles later.”

Later seeding may stave off a flea beetle infestation, and canola tends to retain yield potential longer than some other crops, but seeding too late could lead to flowering in the heat of summer and increase the risk of fall frost damage.

Once seeds are planted, it’s a waiting game. Flea beetles overwinter here, and they wake from hibernation hungry for a canola plant or related crop. All the producer can do is watch carefully, measure damage and, if it crosses the economic threshold, consider foliar control.

If there is a bad infestation, Gabert said flea beetles usually come as a package deal with some other stress.

“It’s almost always that something else has gone wrong. We’ve got a little too much trash, some crusting or some type of plant establishment problem and fewer canola plants than we’d actually like.”

Little of this information is new advice, he acknowledged.

“I’ve been with the canola council now for more than 10 years and I asked the guy before me if there was anything I should know about. He said, ‘you can only tell growers to slow down and seed shallow for so long before you want to find another message, but that’s still the best message we have for managing this crop,’” said Gabert.

Outlook

There are reasons for optimism this spring. Many meteorologists are forecasting a warm, dry season and, while the latter may spark concern after drought in 2023, short-term moisture might be available.

“A grower under drought conditions is going to be really annoyed when he reads that, but we’ll do our best with the seed bed conditions that we have,” said Gabert.

Scouting is important as the temperature rises, he added. Flea beetles increase their activity once temperatures reach 15 C, and the hotter it gets, the more they eat. Recent research suggests that feeding doubles for every five degree temperature rise, up to 25 C.

“That means that that jump between 20 (C) and 25 (C) is pretty significant. They’re already happy and eating a lot at 20 degrees, and they’ll still double their feeding rate at 25.”

Gabert further noted that farmers usually don’t scout daily unless they anticipate the need to spray. He urged them to rethink that when temperatures are rising.

“Daily scouting under hot conditions is something that’s advisable. It’s a matter of scouting frequently enough to stay ahead of the damage that’s there and still be proactive in any foliar insecticide management.

“Do all those little things when you’re seeding that you think will help that crop grow rapidly. In many cases, it’s simply a matter of not rushing or skipping some small steps.”

– Don Norman is a reporter with the Manitoba Co-operator.

The post Canola Council urges flea beetle vigilance appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“Review the challenges you had last year and have a plan in place as to how you’re going to handle them this year,” said Warren Ward, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada.

“Maybe look back over a couple of years and see the challenges you dealt with on the farm and what you can do to make sure that they’re not going to be yield limiting in 2024.”

Issues like blackleg or herbicide-resistant weeds can be anticipated from last year’s field, but crop pests might be different year to year.

Trevor Herzog, Western Canada agronomy lead with Corteva Agriscience, said growers should be ready if it looks like another dry spring is in the works.

“Keep an eye on forecasts and weather. … If the forecast does look dry, then a farmer may decide to start seeding a little sooner just to try to take advantage of the existing moisture before it blows away in the wind or starts to disappear from that ideal seeding depth for the crop they’re considering.”

Herzog also reminded farmers to have seed treatment and weed control plans in place. In particular, he noted seed treatments that target flea beetles, cutworms and seedling blackleg.

“If you have patches of weeds that seem to get an early start and they are taking advantage of the early season moisture, make sure you have a weed control plan figured out to take away that early season pressure on the crop that’s trying to grow through a stressful environment,” he added.

After applying a tank mix with glyphosate, producers should “monitor those weeds as they get the odd shower here or there. And then maybe [apply] an early season in-crop application of some herbicides to keep the weeds at bay and allow that crop to get established.”

Flea beetles and grasshoppers

Although flea beetles have become a commonly cursed scourge of canola in the early growing season, 2023 was not the worst beetle pressure Western Canada has seen. Last year was relatively quiet on the insect pest front from a Prairie-wide perspective, said Ward.

That doesn’t mean this year will be the same.

“Even if you had a good year with [flea beetles] last year, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.”

The same goes for grasshoppers.

“If it remains dry in the spring, that will be something to watch out for into the new year,” Ward said.

Other insect pests

Aside from localized populations in Alberta, diamondback moths were not out in force in 2023, said Ward, though the Manitoba pest report noted spraying in all regions except the southwest and counts up to 60 per square foot.

Looking to 2024, the moth is always a pest species to look out for, Ward said.

“They come up with the wind currents from the United States. Keep an eye on the monitoring maps and the traps that are out there to predict where and when they might become an issue.”

Alfalfa looper was another pest reported in parts of the Prairies.

Loopers were not a species of note in the season’s pest summary, although Ward noted the green caterpillar confounded other western Canadian producers and agronomists.

“It looks a little bit like bertha armyworm but greener,” he said, noting alfalfa loopers appear earlier.

Ward urged producers to brush up on pest identification knowledge so they manage the right problem when it appears.

“In some cases, [species] may look similar but don’t do similar damage or, in some cases, they do similar damage. So, it’s a matter of knowing what you’re dealing with and that’ll give you the options that are available.”

The disease usuals

Verticillium stripe is under the microscope of agronomists and researchers, and is specifically a disease of note in the eastern Priries.

The pathogen was the second-biggest threat identified by Manitoba Agriculture’s 2023 Canola Disease Survey in terms of prevalence. One in every four surveyed fields was infected. Blackleg was found in 86 per cent of fields.

While Manitoba is the Prairie hotbed for verticillium stripe, Ward said symptoms have been found in eastern and central Saskatchewan as well, and it’s not likely to stop there, as it moves westward.

There are few management strategies, but there’s at least one identified condition that seems to exacerbate the issue.

“Dry, stressed conditions later on in the growing season is where it seems to show up worse,” said Ward.

“You can’t really scout for it until later in the season. Even at swathing time, it’s tough to distinguish. The best time to scout for it is after harvest when you can go out there and identify it on stubble.”

Much of the Prairies saw a season of low sclerotinia pressure, but Ward urged producers to remember that good growing conditions for canola are often friendly to sclerotinia.

“Looking at what conditions are during the growing season is really going to be the number one factor as to whether we see that disease developing next year.”

Producers should be “thinking about it and going through the risk assessment for sclerotinia as we get into that flowering time of year,” he added.

If there was blackleg in the field in 2023, assume it will also be there this year and plan accordingly, said Ward.

“If you know you had higher blackleg levels last year, especially if you sent some samples away for race identification to a lab, you’ve got some more information where you can start looking at finding a variety that is resistant to that race.”

Aster yellows

Last year was also the worst year since 2012 for aster yellows on the Prairies, particularly in areas of western Saskatchewan and into Alberta, said Ward.

The 2023 Canola Disease Survey found aster yellows symptoms in 20 per cent of the 100 fields monitored. Between 2018 and 2022, the survey found prevalence of the disease at 10 per cent or below.

Crop pathologists also noted the surge in aster leafhoppers observed earlier in the season. A vector for aster yellows, the insects tipped surveyors that 2023 might be a bad aster yellows year.

There aren’t many control options for aster yellows, Ward noted. The best producers can do is watch for reports of aster leafhoppers moving in from the U.S.

“It’s not something you can really plan around [aside from] looking for it. The chances of it being really bad two years in a row are low but not inconceivable.”

Weeds

Winter is also a good time for growers to assess options for herbicide-resistant weed management, Ward said.

“If you know you have resistance on your farm, look at planning right now what you can do. A herbicide system would be one [strategy]. Give yourself the most options to be able to deal with those weeds.”

Resources

In-depth information on insects, diseases and weeds common in canola, including management strategies, is available on the Canola Council of Canada website. Information on a number of crop pests is also available on the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network website.

The post Prepping for the 2024 canola crop appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“In general, 2020 wasn’t really a big insect year, especially compared to past years,” said Boyd Mori, an assistant professor of agricultural and ecological entomology at the University of Alberta.

“We had flea beetle pressure like we always do, but a lot of the pests that we often deal with retreated a little bit in 2020.

“It seems like most species are going to be average this year too.”

But that will depend on what you’re growing and where you’re growing it, said Mori. For many of Alberta’s insect pests, researchers are still trying to figure out their overwintering capacity, but generally, populations decline during a really cold winter with limited snow cover.

“But if we get a decent snowpack on the fields, that really helps to insulate the soil where a lot of our insect pests are overwintering,” he said.

So if you’re growing wheat southeast of Edmonton, for instance, wheat midge pressure there could be “potentially heavy.”

“Wheat midge is one that’s been off everyone’s radar for a few years now because it’s been warm and quite dry,” he said. “But in 2020, it was quite moist, so I think in 2021, we could see a boom population of wheat midge, especially in that region.”

Grasshoppers are also cause for concern in north-central and northern Alberta this year. Last year, southern Alberta farmers saw heavier grasshopper populations around Lethbridge down toward the border, but in other regions, “grasshoppers were almost non-existent.”

That could flip this year, with heavier grasshopper pressure in northern Alberta, as one of the species in the Parkland region appears to be on a two-year life cycle.

“In 2019, we saw high grasshopper numbers in the Peace Region and north-central region,” said Mori. “If it weren’t on a two-year life cycle, we’d expect to see high numbers, but we saw absolutely nothing.

“So for 2021, we’re expecting to see some grasshoppers again in those regions.”

(For more on the 2020 provincial surveys on grasshoppers, as well as bertha army worm and cabbage seedpod weevil, click here.)

Southern Alberta producers should also keep an eye out for a common insect pest in the region — wheat stem sawfly.

“It was noted by a few agronomists in the County of Forty Mile that there was up to 70 per cent cutting caused by sawfly,” he said. “The survey from last fall also showed there was quite high cutting, so growers in that region should definitely be considering a solid-stem variety to combat sawfly.”

Flea beetles are likely to be a problem no matter where you are in Alberta, he added.

“Everyone is always worried about flea beetles. It’s kind of our annual pest that everybody has to deal with.”

Last year, producers reported seed treatments weren’t effective against flea beetles at the high-population levels, forcing some to spray.

“That seems to be the case most years now. There are just some really high populations of flea beetles,” said Mori. “But there’s at least one new seed treatment coming out on the market this year for flea beetle control, so I think we’ll be seeing producers using more and more of those newer seed treatments.”

The Prairie Pest Monitoring Network offers forecasts and risk maps that are based on the previous year’s insect population. Producers in regions with higher populations last year should be on the lookout this year as well.

“My advice is the same as always — scout, scout, and scout,” said Mori. “Depending on the pest, there’s the potential it could wipe out the crop, and there’s nothing to replace just being out in the field and taking a look.

“I know farmers have larger and larger farms and they have less and less time to do those things, but it’s very, very important for them to be out there having a look.”

For this year’s insect forecasts and risk maps, visit prairiepest.ca.

The post Average year expected for insect pests in Alberta appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

In his weekly ‘Call of the Land’ broadcast, Scott Meers offers tips on what producers can do to keep these bugs at bay and which bug to keep an eye on over the next seven days.

To listen to Scott’s broadcast on the Alberta Agriculture website, click here.

The post Alberta weekly pest update appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

To hear Scott’s interview on the Alberta Agriculture website, click here.

The post Alberta weekly pest update appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.