Reading Time: 5 minutes Sclerotinia stem rot is the most yield-damaging canola disease in Western Canada, yet payback on fungicide hinges on a “yes” to these three questions: Is canopy moisture through flowering sufficient for high levels of infection? Is yield potential high enough to provide a return? Are the spores present? The answer to question one depends on […] Read more
Capturing spores in the fight against sclerotinia
You don’t need to guess at sclerotinia infection potential in your canola crop — three tests are available
Add another one to your canola scouting list
What you thought was sclerotinia might be verticillium stripe, and the Canola Council is making it a research priority
Reading Time: 4 minutes It first appeared in Manitoba fields in 2014, and now it’s showing up in Manitoba’s crop reports. “Canola yields tend to be disappointing for farmers, with heat blast and verticillium stripe suspected as contributing factors,” said a provincial summary in mid-September. The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) says verticillium stripe (VS) is caused by V. […] Read more
Getting positive results from fungicide
Combining new technology with good agronomics helps result in a positive return from a fungicide application
Reading Time: 5 minutes The decision to apply a fungicide in any given year weighs the risk of damage from the disease against the cost of a fungicide application. As the risk for disease has spread across regions and crops, discussions on the economics of disease management can be heard on farms across Canada. But despite a rainy spring […] Read more
How to keep sclerotinia infection to less than five per cent
New research shows fungicide applied at or just after 20 per cent flowering is still the best way to stop sclerotinia stem rot from shredding canola profits
Reading Time: 6 minutes Like a detective piecing together the timeline of a crime, Dwayne Hegedus has played and replayed the sequence of events from when a sclerotinia-infested petal drops onto a canola leaf to the all-is-lost cleaving of the cuticle. The scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon now knows, genetically, what arrows the pathogen shoots and […] Read more
Consider canola crop’s potential yield before spraying
Reading Time: 3 minutes As July approaches and crop canopies close, sclerotinia will be on the minds of many canola growers. But will it pay to spray? Fungicide applications are more likely to be profitable when the canola hits 30-40 bushels per acre, said Colleen Redlick, senior technical development specialist at BASF. Justine Cornelsen, agronomy specialist with the Canola […] Read more
Species-specific crop protection
RNA interference provides a new method of pest control, using tools so precise they hit only the target insect or disease
Reading Time: 4 minutes “We like to call sclerotinia the bully,” says Mark Belmonte. And stopping a bully is not easy. The pathogen attacks fast, it moves quickly through the plant and it can do heavy yield damage right away. “Because it acts with brute force and involves multiple genes, sclerotinia is difficult to study and get a good […] Read more
Four canola diseases to watch for
Be ready to recognize these major diseases in your canola crop this summer
Reading Time: 6 minutes Is that canola crop afflicted by blackleg, root rot, both, or something else entirely? It’s a messy question farmers and agronomists encounter every year. Presenters tried to untangle those problems at CanoLAB in Vermilion this winter. Here are four diseases to watch for in canola fields this summer, and tips on diagnosing them. 1. Blackleg […] Read more
Four canola diseases to watch for
Is that canola crop afflicted by blackleg, root rot, both, or something else entirely? It’s a messy question farmers and agronomists encounter every year. Presenters tried to untangle those problems at CanoLAB in Vermilion this winter. Here are four diseases to watch for in canola fields this summer, and tips on diagnosing them.
The rise of the 777 sunflower rust race
If it seems like rust is becoming a bigger problem for Manitoba sunflower crops, that’s because it is. Researchers have identified a new virulent race of sunflower rust that made up nearly two-thirds of the rust cases in Manitoba during the 2016 growing season. Left unchecked, the disease deprives the plant of nutrients, and can[...]
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To spray or not to spray?
A preventive canola spray for sclerotinia can pay off, but not necessarily for blackleg
Reading Time: 5 minutes Keith Gabert rarely tells Alberta canola producers straight up not to spray fungicide as a preventive against sclerotinia stem rot. But last year, the Canola Council of Canada’s agronomy specialist for central Alberta south did just that. “In the Drumheller area, where they don’t always have as much moisture, they’d sprayed for sclerotinia in the[...]
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A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
