Reading Time: < 1 minute Conditions have been hot and dry across much of Alberta. What has this meant for insect populations and their pressure on crops? Insects that like the dry heat such as flea beetles and grasshoppers comprise the usual suspects, but there are several others as well. In his weekly ‘Call of the Land’ broadcast, Scott Meers offers […] Read more
Alberta weekly pest update
Crop insect conditions as of June 25
Faba bean acreage is soaring — and so is knowledge about growing them
Herbicide sensitivity and heat susceptibility were two issues, and lygus bugs seem to find them tasty
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta is coming off of a pretty good year for faba beans and that brought with it some valuable lessons learned, says an Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development researcher. “This year we saw acreage go from 30,000 to close to 80,000,” said Robyne Bowness, pulse research scientist in Lacombe. “We had more farmers growing faba […] Read more
Watch for lygus bug damage on fababeans
The insects leave a black spot which is discounted by export customers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Central Alberta farmers planning to sell low-tannin faba beans for export will need to beware of lower tolerance levels for lygus bug damage. Snowbird is a low-tannin variety of faba beans commonly sold into the human market overseas. Parkland Alberta Commodities, a grain buyer based in Innisfail, Alberta, set the tolerance level for lygus bug-damaged […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
