Canola Community Connections – September 22

SaskCanola disease testing. SaskCanola offers free clubroot and blackleg disease testing programs available this fall for registered canola growers in Saskatchewan. Visit https://www.saskcanola.com/production/blackleg.php and https://www.saskcanola.com/production/clubroot.php for more information. In addition to direct benefits to the grower, see how submitting samples provides additional benefits and supports subsequent findings.

Manitoba Canola Growers PSI. As the founding supporter of the Pest Surveillance Initiative, Manitoba Canola Growers are offering free testing for our members. They include soil tests for the presence of clubroot, blackleg races and kochia tests for glyphosate tolerance. Agronomists are welcome to submit tests on a farmer’s behalf. For more information, click here.

Learn to Lead: Growing the next crop of leaders in Saskatchewan. November 26 & 27, 2021 in Saskatoon. Click here for more information. 

Got sprouted canola in storage? Lethbridge College researcher Chandra Singh wants to better understand how sprouted canola stores in grain bins and on farms. If you are storing sprouted canola within a few hours of Lethbridge and have bin monitoring cables, email chandra.singh@lethbridgecollege.ca.

The Harvest Sample Program from the Canadian Grain Commission tracks quality trends in canola and other crops and provides farmers with an unofficial grade and quality report. If new to the program, order your sample kits here: https://grainscanada.gc.ca/application/HSS. Last year’s participants will get a kit in the mail. More information on the Harvest Sample Program is available here and instructions can be found here.

The Western Forum on Pest Management meeting offers a yearly summary of the year’s pathology and entomology concerns in western Canada. Hold the dates of October 27-29 for participation in their online meeting in 2021. Watch here or https://westernforum.org for registration information and details soon. 

Canola Week, Canada’s premier series of canola industry meetings focused on research and industry news, will be a virtual conference again this year. Save the date for November 30 to December 2, 2021. Keep an eye here for details. 

Be bin safe. Every year, several Canadian farm workers suffocate in grain bins. These deaths are preventable. The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) has several tips to help producers and their families stay safe this fall. Here’s a few. Don’t enter a grain bin unless you have a plan. Make sure children know the grain bin is off-limits. If you must enter a grain bin, have at least two people nearby prepared and capable of helping in an emergency. Use extreme caution if entering a bin with wet, mouldy or spoiled grain in it. Air hazards may include toxic gases, dusts and reduced oxygen content. Turn on the blower and use respiratory protective equipment in such situations. For more safety tips, visit https://www.casa-acsa.ca/en/safetyshop-library/grain-bin-safety/.