May 2010 Archives
I've been put in my place more than a few times over the past few days. It's raining here in Lumsden. Still raining, I should say. It's been raining and raining, so much so that the standing water in my driveway is attracting ducks. I'm certain they plan on staying. I wish they wouldn't.
While I've watched the rain fall and worried that the crop isn't going in, I've publicly proclaimed that it should stop. And then I've promptly been told to hush up and hold my tongue. See, I'm from the Red River Valley. Nine years out of 10 we'd get so much water we could canoe to town. No, really. A friend of mine owns land there still and each year I seriously recommend she start planting cranberries in those bogs she's got. I may be exaggerating a little, but my perception is that there is such thing as too much water and it happens. A lot.
Fast forward to present-day Lumsden, and I'm getting grief from all sorts of sources.
"If the rain stops, it may not start again." or "Rain makes grain," or, my personal favorite from Grainews contributor Ron Settler: "Last time we asked for the rain to stop, it did. For three years."
And so, the rain falls and I wonder if I should just keep my mouth shut. Heaven knows I don't want to be responsible for the next drought.
While I've watched the rain fall and worried that the crop isn't going in, I've publicly proclaimed that it should stop. And then I've promptly been told to hush up and hold my tongue. See, I'm from the Red River Valley. Nine years out of 10 we'd get so much water we could canoe to town. No, really. A friend of mine owns land there still and each year I seriously recommend she start planting cranberries in those bogs she's got. I may be exaggerating a little, but my perception is that there is such thing as too much water and it happens. A lot.
Fast forward to present-day Lumsden, and I'm getting grief from all sorts of sources.
"If the rain stops, it may not start again." or "Rain makes grain," or, my personal favorite from Grainews contributor Ron Settler: "Last time we asked for the rain to stop, it did. For three years."
And so, the rain falls and I wonder if I should just keep my mouth shut. Heaven knows I don't want to be responsible for the next drought.
There's a new pest in town. Well, "new" might be a bit of a stretch, however the incidence of striped flea beetle is on the rise. What makes the striped flea beetle an issue? As if chewing up your newly emerged canola wasn't enough, this pesky critter tends to emerge sooner, cause more damage AND be less affected by current seed treatments. It's not good news.
It's also not reason to panic, either. Troy Prosofsky, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, says it's not that the striped flea beetle is suddenly swarming fields, however traps are showing higher numbers of this type of flea beetle. That's a bit disconcerting, and the provincial and federal entomologists as well as the Council need your help in keeping an eye out for these insects. (See photo below for distinguishing between species. The striped beetle is in the middle. Sorry the image is so stretched, I don't know why it did that.)
Flea beetles, regardless of species, overwinter in field margins, tree and fence lines and emerge early to feed. The chewing adults will chew on early weeds as they wait for the good stuff — canola — to emerge. While the flea beetle will feed for several weeks (into late June), the majority of the damage is done at the seeding to two leaf stage.
Because the beetles overwinter along field margins, crop rotations don't really help in controlling or avoiding an infestation. That said, Prosofsky says that if you notice large numbers in the fall when you're combining it's not a bad idea to try and seed canola far from that field. It's not always practical, however, which is where using a good seed treatment comes in handy, as does early scouting.
Once seedlings are up Prosofsky says daily scouting is a must. Start at the field edge and work your way in. The time to spray is at 25% damage to the leaves. By 50% damage, you've already lost yield. Remember, when it's warm, these insects move and eat quickly. Scouting daily in warm weather is a must.
Prosofsky adds that because flea beetles emerge before the crop, keeping fields clean of weeds and volunteers does deprive them of a food source. Researchers aren't sure why, but wider row spacing (eight inches or wider) does seem to hold the pest back somewhat. And, as always, a healthy, vigorous crop with adequate plants per square foot (or meter, if you're so inclined) is more likely to recover from early feeding damage.
It's also not reason to panic, either. Troy Prosofsky, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, says it's not that the striped flea beetle is suddenly swarming fields, however traps are showing higher numbers of this type of flea beetle. That's a bit disconcerting, and the provincial and federal entomologists as well as the Council need your help in keeping an eye out for these insects. (See photo below for distinguishing between species. The striped beetle is in the middle. Sorry the image is so stretched, I don't know why it did that.)
Flea beetles, regardless of species, overwinter in field margins, tree and fence lines and emerge early to feed. The chewing adults will chew on early weeds as they wait for the good stuff — canola — to emerge. While the flea beetle will feed for several weeks (into late June), the majority of the damage is done at the seeding to two leaf stage.
Because the beetles overwinter along field margins, crop rotations don't really help in controlling or avoiding an infestation. That said, Prosofsky says that if you notice large numbers in the fall when you're combining it's not a bad idea to try and seed canola far from that field. It's not always practical, however, which is where using a good seed treatment comes in handy, as does early scouting.
Once seedlings are up Prosofsky says daily scouting is a must. Start at the field edge and work your way in. The time to spray is at 25% damage to the leaves. By 50% damage, you've already lost yield. Remember, when it's warm, these insects move and eat quickly. Scouting daily in warm weather is a must.
Prosofsky adds that because flea beetles emerge before the crop, keeping fields clean of weeds and volunteers does deprive them of a food source. Researchers aren't sure why, but wider row spacing (eight inches or wider) does seem to hold the pest back somewhat. And, as always, a healthy, vigorous crop with adequate plants per square foot (or meter, if you're so inclined) is more likely to recover from early feeding damage.
Are Roundup (glyphosate) resistant weeds on your radar? They should be and not because they are in Western Canada but because they aren't ... yet. Ontario has confirmed glyphosate resistant giant ragweed exists in the province. The U.S. has nearly 10 million acres infested with some species of glyphosate resistant weed.
The New York Times carried this story today regarding glyphosate resistant weeds and how agriculture practices are going to have to adapt to handle this new biotype. The game plan is not pretty — a combination of other herbicides (and thus, more money) and a return to tillage.
Neither option is welcome, however the situation is not horribly dire; there are ways and means to deal with glyphosate resistant weeds. The rub, of course, is that both add cost without any real return and in some cases, adding tillage back into the management tool box may not be just costly, but it could also have environmental fall out.
What should we do then? An ounce of prevention is worth of a pound of cure. As discussed in the April 5, 2010 issue of Grainews (available online for subscribers), an integrated approach to weed management is key. Rotating herbicide groups, using tank mixes and scouting — then dealing with — herbicide escapes is paramount.
You can't afford not to.
The New York Times carried this story today regarding glyphosate resistant weeds and how agriculture practices are going to have to adapt to handle this new biotype. The game plan is not pretty — a combination of other herbicides (and thus, more money) and a return to tillage.
Neither option is welcome, however the situation is not horribly dire; there are ways and means to deal with glyphosate resistant weeds. The rub, of course, is that both add cost without any real return and in some cases, adding tillage back into the management tool box may not be just costly, but it could also have environmental fall out.
What should we do then? An ounce of prevention is worth of a pound of cure. As discussed in the April 5, 2010 issue of Grainews (available online for subscribers), an integrated approach to weed management is key. Rotating herbicide groups, using tank mixes and scouting — then dealing with — herbicide escapes is paramount.
You can't afford not to.
Profile
Grainews editor Lyndsey Smith answers readers' questions, asks her own and, now and then, discusses what's new and interesting in western Canadian production agriculture.
