Elatus Era fungicide is a new offering from Syngenta Canada, which claims it delivers “superior protection” against anthracnose, white mould and Ascochyta blight. Both can signifiancly reduce yields and increase harvest time for lentil growers, the company said in a news release.

Syngenta is also promoting the fungicide as having a “first flower to row closure” application window.

Carolyn Wilson, technical lead for fungicides with Syngenta Canada, said Elatus Era outyielded competitor results in grower field trials by 3.7 bu/ac.

She also pointed out a clean, green canopy among its attributes. The company credits Solatenol — one of two active ingredients in the product — for this quality.

Solatenol is a Group 7 active with a track record for controlling anthracnose (including Group 11 resistant biotypes) and Ascochyta in lentils. It’s said to increase the light and energy capture needed for a productive crop, at the same time protecting the canopy from disease.

Elantus Era also contains prothioconazole, which is a Group 3 active Syngenta noted for its “strong, reliable” white mould protection.

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The province’s weekly crop report released on Aug. 7 said while crops have rapidly developed due to warm and dry conditions, isolated thunderstorms brought moisture to areas which could no longer help early seeded crops.

Old Wives in southcentral Saskatchewan received the most precipitation in the province at 132 mm, followed by Vanguard in the southwest at 119 mm and Cadillac, also in the southwest, at 95 mm.

Despite the rains, topsoil moisture levels for cropland areas were five per cent surplus, 54 per cent adequate, 33 per cent short and eight per cent very short. Hayland topsoil moisture was four per cent surplus, 48 per cent adequate, 37 per cent short and 11 per cent very short. Pasture topsoil moisture was four per cent surplus, 52 per cent adequate, 32 per cent short and 12 per cent very short.

Crops in areas that have received sufficient rain so far this year were generally at normal stages of development while moisture-stressed crops were typically ahead of normal growth stages. As a result, harvest progress across Saskatchewan was at one per cent with most operations in the southwest. The province’s winter wheat crop was 13 per cent harvested, followed by seven per cent of fall rye. One per cent of lentils and peas were also combined. Most producers were servicing equipment, hauling grain and cleaning bins to prepare for harvest.

Fall cereals were the most developed with 97 per cent developing normally or ahead of schedule. Pulse crops were at 94 per cent, spring cereals were at 92 per cent, annual forage was at 91 per cent, perennial forage was at 90 per cent and oilseeds were at 87 per cent.

Pasture conditions varied due to the wide range of moisture across the province. Six per cent of pastures were in excellent condition, 36 per cent were good, 32 per cent were fair, 19 per cent were poor and eight per cent were in very poor condition.

Minor crop damage was reported in areas experiencing hot temperatures paired with dry conditions. There were also reports of grasshoppers, wind and wildlife causing minor crop damage in certain areas.

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Michael Brown, an agronomy manager for SPG specializing in lentils, chickpeas and dry peas, has heard reports of crops affected by both ends of the spectrum when it comes to weather.

“It’s quite variable across the province in all pulses. Some areas look quite good. There are areas that have seen heavy rain (where) low spots have drowned out and there are areas that are extremely dry,” Brown said.

Tyce Masich, a crop extension specialist with the province, said pulses in western areas of Saskatchewan are struggling.

“Provincially, approximately 60 to 70 per cent of lentils, field peas, and chickpeas are in good to excellent growing conditions, and the remaining 30 to 40 per cent are in fair to poor condition,” Masich said.

“Pulse crops in much of the northwest and southwest regions are struggling due to persistent dry conditions in these areas and some crops in these areas are ahead of normal growth stages. This means that crops are maturing quicker due to stress from dry conditions.”

Severe weather has hit the province in recent weeks, but damages to pulse crops appear to be minimal.

“There has been hail in some areas. Smaller hail during vegetative stages wouldn’t affect pulses too much, but larger hail like we saw in Lumsden or hail into flowering and podding can cause large yield losses and reduction in grade,” Brown explained.

”Some producers in areas that have received high levels of rainfall in late June and early July are spraying fungicides to mitigate disease risk,” Masich added.

There is expected to be more pulse acres grown in Saskatchewan this year. In Statistics Canada’s latest estimates released on June 27, the projected areas for chickpeas, lentils and dry peas in Saskatchewan are set to increase modestly compared to last year. However, dry pea acres were trimmed from StatCan’s March estimate.

Brown identified the drivers behind the additional acres, both in terms of economics and agronomics.

“Strong market prices played a big part in the increase. Factor in some of the reduced input costs with pulses and the potential net return was attractive to producers,” he said. “We also heard of some pea and lentil acres that are fighting Aphanomyces shifting to chickpeas as they have partial resistance.”

To have good crops this year, moderate temperatures and plenty of rain are needed.

“Temperatures in the mid-20 (degrees Celsius) would be ideal. When it starts getting too hot, the plants get stressed and we start to see some flower and pod abortion,” Brown said. “A lot of the province is still teetering between adequate and short for soil moisture and we’ll need some July rains to carry through to harvest.”

“Producers are highly encouraged to scout fields for disease and insect activity over the next few weeks so potential control can be taken at optimal times if necessary,” Masich said.

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On June 3, U.S. federal prosecutors accused two Chinese researchers of smuggling samples of the fungus Fusarium graminearum into the U.S., describing it as a potential agricultural terrorism weapon.

Yunqing Jian, 33, a researcher at the University of Michigan’s Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology has been chargedin connection with allegations that she helped her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, smuggle the pathogen into the U.S.

‘Pretty ineffective’ weapon

However, agriculture experts interviewed by Reuters this week said the fungus has been in the U.S. for more than a century, can be prevented by spraying pesticides, and is only dangerous if ingested regularly and in large quantities.

“As a weapon, it would be a pretty ineffective one,” said Jessica Rutkoski, a crop sciences professor, wheat breeder and geneticist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rutkoski and other researchers said extensive testing for the fungus’ toxin, widespread use of fungicides and the difficulty of intentionally creating an infection with the pathogen would make it a clumsy weapon. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI declined Reuters’ request for comment.

Since the 1900s, U.S. farmers have been battling the fungus, which causes Fusarium head blight, usually known as “scab,” which often infects wheat, barley and other grains on farms during rainy years. The telltale pink streaks on the grain heads contain a toxic byproduct called vomitoxin, which is tested for and tightly controlled by grain elevators where farmers sell their crops.

Constant testing and monitoring means that only negligible amounts of vomitoxin ever make it into the bread, pasta and cookies Americans eat, far below levels that would sicken a human, experts said.

Farmers have history with fusarium

“We have a long history of managing epidemics of scab,” said Andrew Friskop, professor and plant pathologist at North Dakota State University, noting that farmers have access to many tools to prevent and control the disease. Farmers began regularly spraying their fields with fungicide as early as the 1990s, and researchers have since developed multiple strains of fungus-resistant wheat.

Plant experts said that it would be difficult to fully assess the risks posed by the samples without more information on the particular strain. But Rutkoski, whose research involves intentionally contaminating wheat with the fungus, said that she isn’t always successful at infecting her test field’s wheat with scab. She said the pathogen is difficult to control, and her lab has to strike the right balance of temperature and humidity to create an infection.

In federal court in Detroit on Tuesday, Jian was charged with conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the U.S., smuggling goods into the U.S., false statements and visa fraud. Jian did not comment on the charges, and the lawyer who represented her in court was not immediately available for comment. Liu could not be immediately reached for comment.

The court scheduled Jian’s bail hearing for June 13.

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