Month: May 2015

Striped and crucifer flea beetles are the most common insect pest in Canadian canola, and with slower crop emergence this year, flea beetle damage seems more severe than usual. Here are five important points to help with flea beetle scouting and management this year….

As a stakeholder that actively promotes bee health, the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) appreciates the report by the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, released on Wednesday. The Importance of Bee Health to Sustainable Food Production in Canada highlights the multiple factors affecting bee health, underlines the importance of all affected stakeholders working together and recommends that pesticides continue to be regulated based on scientific evidence.

Opportunity for the Canadian canola industry to have improved access to the Asia Pacific market may be just around the corner. Concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could bring significant benefits to Canada and the canola industry by eliminating tariffs and establishing disciplines on non-tariff barriers in a growing market.

Erosion of clubroot resistance is showing up across Alberta. Recent research by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD) and the University of Alberta (U of A) has confirmed the continued spread, with multiple virulent pathotypes suspected. Protecting against further erosion of current clubroot resistance requires a strategy focused on minimizing clubroot resting spore spread and keeping spore loads as low as possible.

Ready for some detective work? The first few weeks of the growing season is a great time to police fields for suspicious weeds. Look for weeds that lived through the pre-seed burnoff or post-emergent sprays while others of the same species have died. These few weeds could be resistant to one or more herbicide groups, and it would be good to nab them early.