Don’t join the clubroot club this year

Don’t join the clubroot club this year

Avoiding serious canola yield loss to clubroot will take a multi-pronged strategy

After a string of dry years, the wetter conditions in 2024 saw clubroot hit Alberta hard. Genetic advances in resistant varieties have certainly helped — but clearly the disease isn’t going away. At the CropConnect Conference last month in Winnipeg, Dr. Stephen Strelkov, a University of Alberta professor of plant pathology, provided an update on […] Read more




AAFC researcher suspects link between drought and aster yellows

AAFC researcher looks at link between drought and aster yellows

While not as voracious as flea beetles, the aster leafhopper hurts yields by spreading disease

One of the most intriguing discoveries in the study of aster yellows is the apparent link between drought in the U.S. Great Plains region — the source region for migratory leafhoppers — and the severity of outbreaks in Canada.





Of course it’s important not to choose your canola seed based solely on cost -- but the opposite can also hold true.

Finding the right fit: Choose your canola varieties carefully

The best one for your farm might be different than your neighbours’

When it comes to canola variety selection, short-sighted decisions can harm your long-term success, a panel told farmers attending Manitoba Ag Days. While the cost of seed and the potential returns are factors that influence many producers’ choices, they must also consider weed control, spring soil conditions and disease, agronomists said. Karen Fatteicher, an agronomist […] Read more

Canola plant with verticillium stripe symptoms.

Researchers scramble to understand verticillium in Canada

While research into verticillium stripe is still in its infancy, agronomists are recommending crop rotation and better field practices

Verticillium is a newcomer among Canadian crop diseases, and according to Justine Cornelsen, agronomic and regulatory services manager with BrettYoung Seeds, researchers still have much to learn about it. “It was first identified on a farm south of Winnipeg in 2014, but it has now been identified in many other production regions,” she says. As […] Read more


Henrique Carvalho of the University of Manitoba heads up the Regional (Tall) Tower project in Saskatchewan.

Project to take high-level look at ag emissions

A CBC tower will be used to monitor nitrous oxide on the Prairies

Glacier FarmMedia — A group of researchers, policy makers and producer organizations is repurposing part of a CBC transmission tower to get data on agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. The tower at Yorkton, Sask., will be fitted with sensors to measure agricultural nitrous oxide emissions 100 metres above the ground. The group, dubbed CanN20net, held its […] Read more

Canola pods infected with sclerotinia.

Pioneer levels up against sclerotinia

Corteva’s new canola hybrid delivers fungicide-equivalent protection

Fungicide-equivalent protection against sclerotinia has long been an elusive target for canola breeders — but Pioneer appears to have cracked the code. The Corteva-owned seed brand released its P617SL hybrid commercially in 2024, and the company says its trial data backs up the fungicide-equivalent claim. While the Canola Council of Canada can’t speak to specific […] Read more