Seeding progress during the past week varied greatly from region to region. In areas of eastern and central Manitoba, 15-25% of the canola acres have been seeded, whereas in southwestern and northwestern Manitoba, canola seeding is just getting underway. Areas of southeastern Alberta near Oyen and Medicine Hat have up to 20% of the canola acres seeded, with other pockets of southern Alberta progressing to 50-80% of canola acres seeded. Some pockets in northeastern Alberta, such as Marwayne, have up to 50% of canola acres seeded. Most other areas have seen limited canola seeding progress this past week due to snow and rain throughout much of Alberta and spring harvesting through areas of Saskatchewan. Most fieldwork has been confined to soil testing, fertilizer application and other preparatory operations. Growers in most areas have initially been concentrating on seeding pulses and wheat.
Harvesting of last year’s crop in Saskatchewan is winding up. Quality of most of the remaining over-wintered crop is quite poor, with extensive shattering, very poor seed quality and low yields. It is expected that most of the remaining crop will be baled for livestock use or burned. Most growers have binned the crop due to limited markets created by the presence of insects and animal excreta in many samples. Growers are strongly advised to keep an eye on the binned crop. Clean the grain to remove the contamination if possible, and store in an aerated bin to allow for safe storage until markets for the grain can be found. Get spring threshed grain samples analyzed at a feed laboratory to determine the exact nutritional composition of the grain as well as the potential presence of any adverse material such as moulds and fungi. This will assist in determining a fair value for the specific sample.
Most areas of western Canada received more moisture as either rain or wet snow over the past week. The severest drought affected areas (East-Northeast Alberta, Northwestern Saskatchewan) received enough moisture to improve the surface moisture conditions for seeding. Other areas have ample to excess moisture with high moisture levels causing delays in fieldwork in many areas of Alberta, including much of the Peace River region and along the Hwy. 2 corridor between Edmonton and Calgary. Overall soil moisture conditions are rated as good to excellent over most areas. For current maps of moisture conditions from PFRA go to the following links:
http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/drought/drprec4_e.htm
http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/drought/drprecw_e.htm
http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/drought/prgrowing_e.htm
Soil temperatures have been reasonably warm for this time of year, with temperatures as high as 14-15o C in areas of Manitoba and northeastern Saskatchewan. Areas of the Peace and northeastern Alberta also experienced soil temperatures in the double digits prior to receiving precipitation late this past week. However, in areas that received snow last weekend, soil temperatures have dropped to al low as 2-4oC. Most other areas had intermediate soil temperatures, depending largely on the amount of soil moisture present and air temperatures this past week. These generally favorable conditions have led to considerable weed growth for this time of year, especially winter annuals, narrow-leaved hawksbeard and volunteer canola.
Flea beetles have been noticed in many areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and southern Alberta, although feeding to this point has been limited to volunteer canola and overwintered annuals. Here are tips for monitoring and assessing flea beetle damage of emerging crops.
Scout fields daily in the spring, and assess damage to cotyledons and the first true leaves of seedlings. Continue scouting for the first 14 days after emergence, especially on sunny, calm days when temperatures exceed 14oC. Collect plants at random while walking across the field and then estimate the foliage damage. Check all field and slough margins where the insects overwinter. This sampling procedure determines the extent and distribution of damage. Flea beetles generally invade canola fields from the field edges. Damage and flea beetle numbers may be higher at the field edge than farther into the field.
Canola seedlings can withstand 50% leaf loss. However, flea beetles can locate, attack and quickly injure or destroy seedlings shortly after emergence. Therefore, the action threshold for flea beetle feeding on canola is when there is 25% defoliation and flea beetles are present. Applying controls at 25% defoliation will reduce the risk of flea beetle damage reaching a level where yield loss and plant development are substantially reduced. If damage only exceeds threshold levels near the field edges, a foliar spray around the field edge may provide sufficient protection. However, on hot and calm days flea beetles are capable of moving farther distances and may populate the field more uniformly.
When assessing economic thresholds also consider growing conditions. When flea beetle feeding is combined with poor plant growth during hot, dry weather, canola can tolerate less feeding than if plants are growing under more ideal growing conditions. Check the following provincial crop protection guides for registered seed treatment, granular or foliar insecticides, or contact company representatives in the area:
Manitoba and Saskatchewan - Guide to Crop Protection (http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/cropproduction/gaa01d01.html)
Alberta - Crop
Protection "Blue Book"
(http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex32)
Other insects identified this past week include grasshoppers in some areas of Saskatchewan, Manitoba near Gilbert Plains and southeastern Alberta. Most of the grasshoppers that have emerged to date are the non-pest species. The pest species that caused most of the damage last year, the clear-winged and two-striped species, generally do not emerge until late May and into June. Monitor for grasshoppers in earnest at that time to determine the potential threat to the current year crop. As well, lygus bugs are being found principally on alfalfa fields in southeastern Alberta, as well as army cutworms in forages and winter cereals, and wireworms near Beiseker, AB.
Many species of wireworm are present in all areas of Western Canada. The Prairie Grain Wireworm is the most destructive species of wireworm growers have to deal with on a yearly basis. The majority of the damage by this species of wireworm takes place in Alberta. Wireworm larva feed below the soil surface on germinating seeds or root tissue of young seedlings. Damaged seedlings may not emerge and young plants soon wilt and die, resulting in reduced plant stands. Feeding depth will vary from 1" (spring) to over 1’ (mid to late summer) depending on soil moisture and temperature. Damage is more common in medium-textured soils rather than heavy clay or sandy soils. To sample for larva, sieve the soil through a screen to a depth of 15 cm or 6" to determine the number of larva present per given area. No economic thresholds have been established to date.
With the generally favourable soil moisture conditions present across most areas, growers are urged to closely monitor the settings on their seeding equipment. Seed as shallow as possible (1/2" to 1") to ensure rapid emergence. As well, ample to excessive moisture conditions can lead to over packing in certain soil conditions, such as clay and clay-loam soils. Ensure that packing pressures are not excessive to cause emergence problems and crusting.
For growers in short-season areas, check the maturity of the varieties chosen. If it looks like seeding will be delayed for more than another 10 days or so, consider earlier maturing B. napus (Argentine) varieties or B. rapa (Polish) varieties. Please keep in mind that stocks of many of these varieties are limited, so check with your seed supplier to determine availability.
Any questions regarding this overall report should be directed to John Mayko, Agronomic Research & Extension Manager with the Canola Council of Canada at maykoj@canola-council.org ph/fax:780-764-2593.
For specific questions regarding regional issues associated with this report, please consult one of the following Canola Council of Canada regional agronomists or provincial oilseed specialists;
Derwyn Hammond, Agronomist,
Manitoba, hammondd@canola-council.org,
204-729-9011
Rob Park, Manitoba Agriculture
& Food, rpark@gov.mb.ca,
204-745-5665
David Vanthuyne, Agronomist,
Eastern Saskatchewan,
vanthuyd@canola-council.org,
306-782-7799
David Blais, Agronomist,
Western Saskatchewan,
blaisd@canola-council.org,
306-895-2122
Jim Bessel, Senior Agronomist,
Northeastern Saskatchewan,
besselj@canola-council.org,
306-373-6771
Bill Greuel, Saskatchewan
Agriculture, Food &
Rural Revitalization,
wgreuel@agr.gov.sk.ca,
306-787-2756
Doug Moisey, Agronomist,
Central & Southern
Alberta, moiseyd@canola-council.org,
403-553-2829
Christine Mardell, Agronomist,
Peace River Region, mardellc@canola-council.org,
780-518-1513
Murray Hartman, Alberta
Agriculture, Food &
Rural Development, murray.hartman@gov.ab.ca,
403-782-8024
Kerry Clark, BC Ministry
of Agriculture, Food &
Fisheries, Kerry.Clark@gems9.gov.bc.ca,
250-787-3213
The Canola Crop Watch Report provides just-in-time information on canola production to growers and industry. Contributors to the Canola Agronomy Network are:
Manitoba Agriculture & Food, Manitoba Canola Growers Association, Agricore United, Cargill, James Richardson International, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, United Farmers of Alberta, Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food & Rural Revitalization, Saskatchewan Canola Growers Association, Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission, Alberta Agriculture, Food & Rural Development, Alberta Canola Producers Commission, BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries, and the Canola Council of Canada.