Prairie canola growers should be scouting their fields “immediately” as populations of bertha armyworm are nearing economic thresholds to spray, the Canola Council of Canada warns in Grainews’ CropWatch.
Hot, dry weather has been “favourable” to the insect’s numbers, the council said, noting some growers in Manitoba, eastern Saskatchewan and the Peace region have already sprayed for bertha.
Among other new notices you’ll find at CropWatch:
* A scientist with Alberta’s ag department at Lethbridge warns that seeding winter wheat into a field with green volunteer cereal growth can encourage populations of wheat curl mite.
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
* Harry Brook at the Alberta Ag-Info Centre goes on Call of the Land to explain why it’s already too late to fight stripe rust in wheat crops with fungicides.
* About 84 per cent of Saskatchewan’s hay crop is cut and in some areas, the combines are already starting to roll.
* Saskatchewan is also seeing a “dramatic” increase in hail activity, insurance agents in that province report, compared to a “moderate” rise in Alberta and not much hail activity in Manitoba.
* A webinar on Tuesday (Aug. 9) from Winter Cereals Canada and Ducks Unlimited Canada will look at ways in which farmers can try to get more out of the winter wheat crops they’re preparing to put in the ground.
Be sure to add your own reports using the “Share a comment” and “Share a photo” functions, or to respond to other posted reports using the “Reply” button. To visit the Grainews CropWatch page, click HERE.
— CropWatch is a registered trademark of Richardson International Ltd. Used with permission.
