The event brought together growers, livestock producers, researchers, policymakers, and industry partners in celebration of Ontario’s agri-food sector.

Jocelyn Smith, an assistant professor of field crop entomology at Guelph, shared ongoing challenges facing farmers as pest-resistant crops continue to emerge in Ontario.

“Pests keep changing, and new pests come into Ontario. We need to learn about them,” she said, adding that her department continues to develop monitoring programs to test and evaluate new pest control products.

She noted that there is also ongoing evaluation of old economic thresholds in an effort to develop more cost-effective treatment options.

As of 2006, she said that there has been an increase of insecticide-resistant corn, with the most common pest threat being the European corn borer.

She said that 85 per cent of corn grown in Ontario is genetically modified. As of 2018, she noted that there has been resistance discovered in Nova Scotia.

To help slow the spread of resistance, she added that her team is partnering with organizations across Canada and the United States to develop further prevention programs.

Maximizing Calf Health

Michael Steele, a professor with the department of animal biosciences, continued the discussion, sharing updates on his team’s research to enhance the quality of breeding calves in Ontario.

He noted that 40 per cent of calves in Ontario are crossbred beef animals, as producers are breeding more of their lower end dairy cows to beef cows.

He added that research is also being done to reduce the level of microbial use during the early stages of calving. Genetic markers are also being traced among bulls to select the best breeding options.

The next stage of research, he added, is post-weaning nutrition. He said many calves are given a high-starch diet and that new research will explore if this is an environmentally friendly and healthy option, versus other diet alternatives.

The overall objective is to develop a better understanding of how pre-weaning nutritional and management factors can impact gastrointestinal development and metabolism during the pre-weaning phase and later in life.

For more of our coverage of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show 2025, visit the Farmtario landing page.

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Locusts, which can destroy huge areas of crops in a matter of days, traditionally breed in secluded places along rivers or in uncultivated areas, and controlling that is almost impossible in regions neighbouring the frontline.

Why it matters: Locusts are destroying crops in Ukraine, a major global exporter of grain and oilseeds.

The situation is complicated by record high temperatures this summer, the inability to use aircraft for locust control and the absence of birds – locusts’ natural predators – which are avoiding the combat zone.

Local and government officials declined to provide data on the extent of the locust infestation or damage caused so far. Ukraine is the world’s largest sunflower oil exporter and before the war ranked fifth among wheat exporters.

Swarms of locusts are covering roads, fields and bushes in Zaporizhzhia region and farmers say the insects have destroyed up to a third of their sunflower crops.

“We saw a big swarm. And the next day the ‘infantry’ marched in. The small ones, they ate everything that was hanging low, they ate everything,” said Oleh Tolmatov, 46, a resident of Kushuhum village in Zaporizhzhia region.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, has partially occupied the southern Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson, forcing farmers to abandon their fields.

Grains and oilseeds are traditional crops for these regions.

“The reason for all of this is high temperatures, the reason for all of this is abandoned land, the reason for all of this is the corresponding Russian aggression,” Vadym Chaikovskyi, Ukraine’s Chief Phytosanitary Inspector, told Reuters.

Denys Marchuk, deputy head of Ukraine’s largest farm producers’ union UAC, said that the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River by Russian troops two years ago had created huge swampy areas where locusts are breeding.

Kyiv says that Russia blew up the Kakhovka dam in the summer of 2023, draining thousands of square kilometres of the former reservoir and leaving farms and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant without water.

— Reporting by Sergiy Chalyi

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VT4PRO includes RNAi-based traits at the Bt protein, and incorporates both above- and below-ground traits to control pests. It delivers the latest in corn rootworm defense below the soil, and adds comprehensive above-ground control.

Adam Pfeffer, agronomic solutions lead with Bayer, told Farmtario at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show 2024, that corn rootworm is a challenging pest for Eastern Canadian growers. That challenging production environment is what VT4PRO is aimed at.

Above ground it’s got three modes of action that control an array of pests like European corn borer, corn earworm, fall armyworm and western bean cutworm, then below ground it’s got two modes of action that control corn rootworm, Pfeffer says. The RNAi-based traits prevent the insect from producing a vital protein, killing it.

“It’s a totally different mode of action,” Pfeffer says. “But it pairs very well with Bt protein.”

VT4PRO also includes the Roundup Ready trait for herbicide tolerance.

“It really fits a broad range of acres here in Eastern Canada,” Pfeffer says. “Growers that aren’t truly committed to continuous corn, lighter soil types, where they’re concerned about western bean cutworm, where they’ve also got some rootworm in their acres, this will be a great fit.”

In a media release announcing the new product, Bayer noted that “yield-robbing pests are increasingly showing up in Canadian fields, with Southwestern Ontario, Eastern Ontario, and small pockets of Quebec being considered particularly high-risk regions.”

Worst-case scenarios see corn rootworm robbing as much as half of the crop’s potential yield.

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Christine Noronha, an entomologist with Agriculture Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Charlottetown, recently studied how deep, and at what times, wireworms were on the move in the soil.

There are no in-season chemical options against wireworms.

Varieties of wireworm are a common pest across Canada. In P.E.I., a particularly aggressive variety has caused massive damage in crops such as potatoes, carrots and other root crops, Noronha told the Manitoba Co–operator.

The larvae of this species can live in the soil for five years. After that, they spend their short adult lives as click beetles. Unfortunately, it’s the larvae that are the main problem.

That longevity in the soil is one reason wireworms have been so hard to control. Another is that since the pests are not in the open air, chemical controls are limited to seed treatments.

“Once you have a field with wireworms in it, those wireworms are there for five years,” Noronha said.

There also haven’t been a lot of good chemical options. Since the early ‘00s, tightened regulations have phased out a number of products that were once used against wireworms.

Between then and 2020, the industry was mostly relying on neonicotinoids. Those products, however, did not kill most wireworms in the field, according to provincial entomologist John Gavloski. They only made the larvae sick.

Neonics were also facing down their own regulatory scrutiny.

With the registration of broflanilide a little under two and a half years ago, the door was once again open to active control of wireworm populations.

Atlantic research

To get a better idea of larvae behaviour, Noronha and her team released wireworms into tubes that stretched 80 centimetres into the soil. They then pulled those tubes out at different times throughout the year to observe how far down the worms had gone and when it was happening.

The wireworms began to move deeper into the soil in October and continued to descend slowly throughout November. They then stay below the frost line, and may even go deeper, Noronha said.

In April, when the soil temperature at the test site reached eight to ten degrees, the worms will begin moving back up.

This tells P.E.I. farmers when they should be putting out baits, one method used to test for the presence of wireworms in a field before planting.

In P.E.I., the end of April to mid-May is the best time to put out traps, Noronha said. If farmers need to test in fall, late September is best.

Manitoba application

Manitoba has different species of wireworms, and they are less prevalent than in P.E.I. However, the province does see sporadic, localized damage from the pest, Gavloski said.

Manitoba winters are also colder than in P.E.I. — soil temperatures on the island rarely fall below –7 C, an AAFC report noted.

However, Noronha said Manitobans could still use the temperature thresholds unveiled by her research to predict wireworm movement.

Additional research showed that P.E.I. wireworms could survive an average temperature of –7 C to –12 C, though one worm survived up to –20 C, an article from AAFC said.

Noronha has also done extensive research into using buckwheat and brown mustard in rotations to combat wireworms.

She and other researchers found that mustard and buckwheat were toxic to the pests and growing them in rotation could suppress populations.

Her colleagues have since tried mustard in Ontario and buckwheat in Quebec. Both worked, meaning it is an effective strategy against at least three varieties of wireworm, Noronha said.

Asked if buckwheat and brown mustard would be effective against Manitoban wireworms, Noronha said it was likely.

“It needs to be tested,” she said.

– This article was originally published at the Manitoba Co-operator.

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The Canadian Grain Commission on Tuesday announced changes in store effective Aug. 1 for how Canadian wheat is graded, along with a list of clarifications and new housekeeping rules for the grading of other crops it regulates.

For one, the CGC will update its Official Grain Grading Guide’s definition of “severely sprouted” as a grading factor for western classes of wheat, following research on how far sprouting has to advance to affect end-use quality.

Under the current rule, a kernel of wheat is classified as “regular sprouted” if it has sprouts that are visible but still “within the contours of the germ.”

To be classified instead as “severely sprouted,” a kernel today must either be clearly “severely degenerated,” or clearly sprouted beyond the contour of the germ — or it must show signs of a sprout that’s broken or missing, whether with or without clear evidence of a sprout’s length or severity.

It’s been given that a kernel deemed “severely sprouted” contains a higher level of alpha-amylase than a “regular sprouted” kernel, which has negative impacts on the wheat’s falling number, which in turn is an indicator of the soundness of the grain.

But the research done last year and this year at the CGC’s Grain Research Laboratory found kernels of Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and durum wheats that show a sprout broken or missing, without clear evidence of a sprout’s length or severity, had alpha-amylase activity and impact on falling number in the same range as in “regular sprouted” wheat, rather than the other forms of “severely sprouted” wheat.

Thus, starting Aug. 1, kernels of sprouted western wheats with sprouts broken or missing, but without any clear evidence of a sprout’s length or severity, will be redefined as “regular sprouted” rather than “severely sprouted.” The impact on end-use functionality, the lab found, was “similar to that of regular sprouted kernels.”

Tolerances

Among other changes scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, tolerances for test weight and total foreign material are being matched up in most classes of western wheat that until now had different tolerances for “primary” or “export” use.

Under the new rule, test weight and total foreign material tolerances will be aligned to the “export” tolerances for all grades of:

• Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS);
• Canada Western Hard White Spring (CWHWS);
• Canada Western Extra Strong (CWES);
• Canada Western Soft White Spring (CWSWS); and
• Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) wheats.

On a related note, total foreign material “primary” and “export” tolerances for Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) wheat will also be lined up to the “export” tolerances for all grades.

An “export” tolerance is used when grain is destined for a market overseas and is shipped out of the country through a terminal grain elevator. Such a tolerance is set based on research and is used to ensure milling quality expectations are met for end-use customers, the CGC said Tuesday.

A “primary” tolerance, meanwhile, is set lower than an export tolerance; it’s used when grain is delivered directly to a primary grain elevator within Canada.

Sieves

Among other changes taking effect in the Grain Grading Guide starting Aug. 1, the process for determination of dockage, in the canola chapter, will clarify the process and the different-sized sieves that should be used.

That change, the CGC said, comes in the wake of concerns raised by producers about “inconsistencies in the process used at delivery.”

The guide’s definition of “processed sample” will also be updated in all chapters, in the wake of issues with samples submitted to the CGC for official grades from which dockage was already removed.

The guide will also see adjustment to the composition of dockage to include insect parts, and the definition for insect parts will be adjusted in the lentils, beans, chickpeas and fababeans chapters.

Also, in the canary seed chapter, the composition of dockage will be adjusted to include the percentage of hulled seeds in dockage, and the definition of foreign material and hulled seeds will be adjusted accordingly. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Among the pests he cited were grasshoppers, flea beetles and pea leaf weevils. 

Tansey said the grasshopper hatch is well underway in Saskatchewan, but recent rains could change how much of a problem they become. 

“We’ve had some rain in the south of the province and we are still waiting to see what… that has done with these grasshopper nests. The moisture can contribute to disease in these animals and contribute to direct mortality,” he said, noting there have been some reports already of crop damage, 

Tansey stressed the need for vigilance with farmers checking their crops and the surrounding areas for signs of grasshoppers and other pests. He said there has been estimates of 50 to 70 grasshopper nymphs per square meter in ditches, which normal rates tend to be around 40. 

There have also been reports of striped and crucifer flea beetles in the province, especially in the central area. 

“We are hearing about damage to seedling canola in the Saskatoon area,” Tansey said, also noting large numbers of striped flea beetles in the province’s northeast. That said, he cautioned there are still few reports to go on at this time and there was still something of a chance the problem might not be as bad as expected. 

“There’s no replacement for getting out and seeing what’s happening,” he said. 

Pea leaf weevils have been reported as well, though it’s still on the early side to fully know how much of a problem they could become this year. 

“There was a pretty dramatic increase in the number of pea leaf weevil numbers in the northeast last year,” he said, noting monitoring just recently started for this year. 

Some farmers recently began spraying for different insect pests in the province, he said, but added that when reports and numbers have firmed up, the province will make the insect situation well known to them. 

— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

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Gavloski couldn’t say for sure if insect damage was going to be bad this year but based on what’s transpired over the last three years, he said it depends on conditions, especially for flea beetles and canola.

“Canola growers should definitely be scouting for flea beetles. A large degree of how much damage they cause will be determined by how quickly the plants are germinating and growing through those seedling stages,” he said.

“If we get weather conditions where there is quick germination and quick seedling growth, the seed treatments might be all that we need to protect from the flea beetles. If growth seems to stall in that seedling stage, that can sometimes result in the seed treatment wearing out and people are having to spray.”

Gavloski also advised to watch for signs of cutworms in canola, wheat, sunflowers and other crops.

“A couple of years ago we had some really high levels. Things seem to be tailing off a bit, but there are probably still areas where cutworms could be economical,” he said.

Grasshoppers are another potential pest that need to be high on one’s scouting list. Gavloski noted the last few years have been “conducive for grasshopper populations to build.”

Besides the above three pests, the entomologist said there’s always a chance of the winds carrying in other pests — something that cannot be predetermined. Besides scouting for insects, he suggested farmers review the Manitoba crop pest updates.

— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

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The crop chem and seed company announced Friday it will have a “limited amount” of its lambda-cy-based products Matador 120EC and Voliam Xpress available in the West in time for the 2023 growing season, but “with a focus on horticulture and pulse crops.”

The products will also still be available in Eastern Canada, with “a focus on horticulture crops.”

The company has issued revised labels for those products effective Saturday (April 29), in line with new rules from Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).

PMRA’s re-evaluation decision for lambda-cyhalothrin — published April 29, 2021, to take effect 24 months from that date — requires that crops treated with the chemical must not be fed to, or grazed by, livestock in Canada — and that includes any harvested grain, screenings, hay, forage, silage, byproducts or aftermath.

Thus, on top of its other label-approved uses, the new Matador label provides for the product’s use in crops such as wheat, oats, barley, canola, corn (field, sweet and popping), soybeans, alfalfa, timothy, apples, carrots, potatoes, beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils and fava beans — but it specifically prohibits each of those crops from then being fed to livestock.

The new Voliam Express label, among other approved uses, also still allows for the product’s use in crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas, soybeans, corn, canola, flax and mustard — but also specifically prohibits each of those crops’ subsequent use as feed.

Duane Johnson, head of sales for Syngenta Canada, said the company’s focus on pulse and hort crops for lambda-cy in Western Canada this year is based on available statistics and discussions with industry associations, which suggest the “majority” of horticulture and pulse crops go to human consumption.

However, “it’s important to note that screenings of pulse crops that were treated with lambda-cyhalothrin cannot be used as feed,” Anna Shulkin, head of crop protection regulatory and stewardship matters for Syngenta Canada, said in that company’s release Friday. “We have been sure to communicate the label restrictions and will continue to do so.”

Syngenta, Johnson said, wants “to ensure we are supporting as many growers as possible during the upcoming growing season in protecting their crops from forecasted pest pressure while being compliant with the label’s feed restrictions.”

Growers should review the new labels and are “encouraged to consult with commodity associations” prior to using lambda-cy products, Syngenta said.

‘Use responsibly’

Syngenta’s move is a step back from the decision it announced last fall to not sell any lambda-cy products at all in Western Canada for the 2023 season. A company representative said last November it had made that decision to “avoid any confusion and to support 2023 business planning with our customers.”

Adama Canada, which also markets lambda-cy under the names Silencer and Zivata, undertook a similar recall to update its product labels. Adama had said in November it wasn’t sure it would have those products available in Western Canada for 2023.

But Adama last month announced it would bring back those products, with revised labels to meet the new PMRA requirements. The company said in March it has “confidence in our retail partners to provide good advice to growers and we trust growers themselves to use the product responsibly and within permitted guidelines.”

Shulkin noted Friday that Syngenta’s September 2021 submission to PMRA, seeking reinstatement of “as many of the livestock grain feed uses as possible” for its lambda-cy products, is still under review at that agency.

Syngenta, she said, “will continue to support this submission until completed.”

PMRA’s 2021 re-evaluation decision also cancels lambda-cy products’ use on bulb vegetables, lettuce and condiment mustard, as well as any oilseeds other than flax, canola, rapeseed and oilseed mustard.

‘Unmanageable’

PMRA’s decision has seen crop commodity groups scramble to advise growers on alternative pest controls or other chemistries wherever they exist, but also warn that the decision will leave other growers in a tight spot this season.

SaskBarley, for one, has said the required label change “results in an unmanageable risk mitigation option as many crops are grown for both food and feed, with no segregation by food or feed in our bulk grain handling system.”

Grain Farmers of Ontario also noted there “currently is no process in place to divert harvested crops from livestock feed end-users,” meaning any lambda-cy applications on edible beans, grains and oilseeds “may be considered an off-label use.”

The Manitoba Crop Alliance had noted that for sunflower growers in that province, Matador was until now the lone insecticide control for lygus bug, leaving “no current chemical options.”

The group and the provincial ag department said they would work with industry to see if an emergency use registration would be possible for the 2023 growing season. Seeking a full label expansion rather than an emergency use for any product not now registered for use on sunflowers would be an “extensive” process, the MCA said.

The provincial agriculture ministers from Saskatchewan and Alberta in February wrote to their federal health and agriculture counterparts, urging them to encourage the PMRA to reconsider.

“It is possible for the PMRA to enact an emergency reinstatement of the product’s use to ensure our farmers can use it for the coming growing season and give it time to make a more informed decision, but we would need that immediately,” David Marit and Nate Horner said in a statement at the time. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine tablets used for killing pests through fumigation, but said they could not be “in direct contact with cereals,” thereby threatening exports to some of France’s largest markets, including Algeria, Egypt and Morocco.

The ban on direct contact of phosphine with cereals was due to take effect on April 25.

But after government intervention, ANSES amended the authorization on Thursday to include a reference to an EU regulation that says that maximum residue limits for pesticides do not apply to non-EU country exports if it is possible to demonstrate that the treatments are required or accepted.

Grain exporters group Synacomex praised the move.

“Synacomex welcomes the fact that the European regulation is being respected, allowing French cereals to continue supplying customers who rely on us,” said Christelle Tailhardat, Synacomex’s secretary general.

The pesticide is still not permitted in direct contact with cereals for European Union destinations, the document showed.

If inhaled in large doses, phosphine can cause respiratory, neurological and gastrointestinal disorders.

Canada allows the use of phosphine and similar fumigants in stored commodities, but a 2015 re-evaluation by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency added a requirement for buffer zones of at least 50 metres between treated storage and spaces occupied by people or livestock.

Canada’s buffer zone rules, in place since July 2016, also apply to stored commodities on ships while in port, and to fumigated rail cars parked at terminals or during “prolonged stops” en route.

— Reporting for Reuters by Sybille de La Hamaide and Gus Trompiz. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine tablets used for killing pests though fumigation, but said they could not be “in direct contact with cereals,” thereby threatening exports to markets that require the process, including Algeria, Egypt and Morocco.

“There is nothing to worry about for exports, these will continue. It’s good for our exporters, it’s good for food security of these (importing) countries,” Trade Minister Olivier Becht said, adding that steps would be taken by April 25 when the ANSES decision takes effect.

France intends to refer to an EU regulation that says that maximum residue limits for pesticides do not apply to non-EU country exports if it is possible to demonstrate that the treatments are required or accepted, Becht said.

France will act at the request of importing countries that require the molecule, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau told Parliament.

He said that EU countries including Germany and Bulgaria were also using the pesticide on grain exports to Algeria.

If inhaled in large doses, phosphine can cause respiratory, neurological and gastrointestinal disorders.

The questions in Parliament followed a weekend report by l’Opinion newspaper that said French grain exports would come to a halt from April 25.

With the deadline looming, French grain producers had called for a swift response from the government.

“We are depriving ourselves of a quarter of the outlets for French cereals,” Eric Thirouin, head of French grain growers group AGPB, told Reuters.

Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, will be the main beneficiary if the ban is confirmed, Thirouin added.

Exports put at risk by the ANSES decision amount to about four billion euros (C$5.91 billion) in trade surplus, compared with a total grain trade surplus of about 11 billion euros last year, he said.

Canada allows the use of phosphine and similar fumigants in stored commodities, but a 2015 re-evaluation by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has required buffer zones of at least 50 metres between treated storage and spaces occupied by people or livestock.

Canada’s buffer zone rules, in place since July 2016, also apply to stored commodities on ships while in port and fumigated rail cars parked at terminals or during “prolonged stops” en route.

— Reporting for Reuters by Sybille de La Hamaide and Gus Trompiz. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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