Recipe for Clubroot Management |
|
When combined, like ingredients in a recipe, the following practices will help growers to limit clubroot damage in canola, allowing for the continued success and profitability of canola production across the Prairies.
- Vigilantly scout all canola fields for symptoms, even if growing a Clubroot Resistant variety.
- Keep a minimum 2-year break between canola crops, longer if possible. Crop rotation is crucial in the prevention of disease and pests and in the stewardship of genetic resistance. With a 2-year break between clubroot hosts, we see a rapid decline in living resting spores.
-
Seed Clubroot Resistant varieties and understand if/when to deploy different sources of Clubroot Resistance. Planting Clubroot Resistant varieties before the disease arrives and gets established will give you a better chance of keeping the resting spore load at a manageable level and maintaining effective resistance. Rotation of resistance genes could also be important to maintain resistance efficacy. With repeated use of varieties with the same resistant traits under high spore loads, virulent races can multiply and the effectiveness of resistance will be seriously compromised. Read about how that happens.
- Limit activities that can introduce foreign soil or cause erosion. Minimum tillage and equipment sanitation (as simple as knocking off visible dirt before leaving a field) will greatly reduce the risk of moving infested soil around. Note that wet soil conditions increase the amount of soil that clings to equipment.
- Control host weeds. Common weeds that can host clubroot include stinkweed, shepherd’s purse, flixweed, all mustards, and volunteer canola. They need to be controlled within three weeks of emergence to prevent a new batch of spores from being produced.
- Isolate field entrances and hot spots. Use patch management strategies to reduce spore loads, such as grassing the affected area, which will also limit soil movement. Patches that are visibly worse than the remainder of your field often have billions more spores per gram of soil than elsewhere and are often the first place where clubroot resistance breaks down. Removing these hot spots from cultivation for a few extra years significantly reduces the spread and risk of resistance breakdown. As part of this, having separate field entrances and exits could reduce the amount of infested soil leaving the field on machinery.
-
Scout for clubroot. Symptoms of the disease are most noticeable late in the season, and can still be seen during and after harvest on plant roots. Producers are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with clubroot symptoms and start scouting before the galls degrade. If galls are degrading they will look brown and peaty and may fall off when plants are pulled from the ground. Scout heavy traffic areas (entrances, exploration, gas wells, etc), low areas/water runs, and areas where dust/snow tends to drift and settle. It is good practice to pull plants and examine roots whenever you are looking at later-stage canola as the disease could show up anywhere.
|
|
Organization Highlight- Canola Council of Canada |
|
|
|
The Canola Council of Canada's membership encompasses all links in the canola value chain. The Canola Council’s mission is to advance the growth and profitability of the canola industry based on innovation, sustainability, resilience, and the creation of superior value for a healthier world.
One valuable resource they offer is the Canola Encyclopedia website with reliable and unbiased production advice, informed by the latest canola research. Find tips for managing weed, insect and disease problems while using the best practices for sustainability. Learn about canola fertility, seeding practices, harvest management, on-farm storage, and more.
|
|
Avian Influenza Confirmed in Kneehill County |
|
On April 8, 2022, Avian Influenza (H5N1) was confirmed in a poultry flock in Kneehill County. The information was posted on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) website on April 10, 2022, and according to this information, the CFIA has begun an investigation and has established quarantine and movement control protocols in the affected area. Avian influenza is highly pathogenic and presents a significant national concern as wild birds migrate to Canada because of its spread in wild bird populations globally.
Kneehill County will continue providing updates for informational purposes as they become available. Kneehill County is not otherwise directly involved in the process, and any questions should be directed to the CFIA and their appointed spokespeople as the situation evolves.
|
|
Invasive Species: Wild Boar |
|
Weed Watch
Common Burdock / Arctium minus
Great Burdock / Arctium lappa
Woolly Burdock / Arctium tomentosum
|
|
|
|
Legislative Designation:
Noxious- must be controlled
Key ID Features:
Large, hooked burr seed heads. Large leaves on branches from a single reddish stalk. Biennial with a rosette in the first year and seed production in the second year. Can grow 1-3 meters tall.
Frequently Found:
Farmyards, Pastures, and Fencelines
Control Methods:
Tillage, mowing, or cutting. An assortment of broadleaf herbicides
|
|
Stewardship Spotlight- Twine Recycling |
|
Collection of baling twine for recycling is available at the Kneehill County Three Hills Transfer Site located at SW-25-31-24-W4. Twine must be shaken to remove as much debris as possible and put in a large clear plastic bag (bags are available at the Three Hills Transfer Site or the Kneehill County Office). Bags containing the following items will be refused: Net wrap or netting, Bale/silage wrap, and twine with too much debris. |
|
This e-newsletter is brought to you by Kneehill County Agriculture Services.
For more on what we can do for you visit:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
