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Blackleg pseudothecia on stem
GrowPro

Steps to stop blackleg in canola

Agronomists and canola growers have many proven steps to manage blackleg disease in canola. Genetic resistance has been an extremely effective tool, and will remain so — as long as that resistance matches the blackleg races in a field

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Blackleg disease, caused by the pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans, is common in canola across the Prairies. It can cause very high yield loss in cultivars susceptible to the predominant blackleg races in a field. The two best defences are: Seed treatment and early-season fungicides can also help, especially if the first two are compromised. This article will […] Read more
An open canola stem revealing blackleg
Canola, Crops

Back to blackleg

Lab-testing canola stem samples can help verify the disease and its specific race

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Everyone knows blackleg has been all over canola crops throughout Western Canada this year — but producers will still have to wait a bit to find out just how much the fungal disease has impacted Prairie crops. That’s why Clint Jurke, agronomy director with the Canola Council of Canada, is waiting until survey data is […] Read more
canola stems showing blackleg infection
Canola, Crops, Features

Machine learning may help get a leg up on blackleg

AI-backed research results may help growers better manage the risk of blackleg in canola crops

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Results of a recent study by researchers in Manitoba and Alberta could help growers fight blackleg disease in canola more effectively. The study was done by a team of researchers at the University of Manitoba led by Dilantha Fernando, a professor in the school’s plant science department. They were joined by Michael Harding, a plant […] Read more
Canola, Features

Researchers to put numbers to verticillium yield loss

The team behind blackleg and clubroot yield loss models tackles the newer canola disease

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Glacier FarmMedia — Canola industry leaders have been worried about verticillium stripe and its impact on crop yields for several years. Reports out of Europe suggest the fungal disease could cause losses of 10 to 50 per cent on oilseed rape. However, extreme losses are usually confined to a small number of fields in England […] Read more
Blackleg testing is relatively new and it can be difficult to understand or interpret the test results.
2023 Canola Guide, Canola, Canola Production Guide

Disease testing uptake low despite benefits

Canola disease tests help growers better manage their fields

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Canola disease testing is available free of charge in much of the Prairies, but uptake among growers and agronomists remains relatively low, according to industry officials. In Manitoba, the Pest Surveillance Initiative (PSI) lab has been offering free clubroot testing since 2014. The Manitoba Canola Growers Association lab also offers free blackleg and verticillium stripe […] Read more
This image shows the unilateral discolouration of plant stems caused by verticillium stripe.
Canola, Crops, Features

Take verticillium stripe in canola seriously

A Manitoba farmer warns others about the threat this disease poses to canola production

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Last year, Collin Shirtliff knew the threat to his canola crops posed by verticillium stripe but he wasn’t overly concerned. However, that changed late in the summer when he began harvesting the crop on the 3,600-acre farm he and his family operate near Starbuck, Man. What looked like an extremely promising crop weeks earlier suddenly […] Read more
During the growing season, the pathogen produces fruiting bodies called pycnidia that appear as pepper-like spots within lesions on young leaves. Once the leaves are infected, the fungus can spread into the stem, eventually leading to the most damaging phase of the disease — stem cankering — usually at ground level.
Crops, Features

New products, genetic tools aimed at key crop diseases

It takes a multi-pronged approach to control diseases that constantly change

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Western Canadian canola, corn and soybean growers will have valuable new crop protection tools for the 2023 growing season, as Corteva Agriscience introduces new packages of seed treatment products that control a range of crop pests. Known as the LumiGEN seed treatment packages — each tailored for canola, corn and soybeans — the idea is […] Read more
One way to gauge the severity of blackleg infection is to cut through the base of the stem and see how much blackening there is inside.
Canola, Crops, Features

Blackleg is still a threat for canola

Resistant hybrids may not be enough to keep your fields safe from this canola disease

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One of the most common diseases in canola is blackleg. As a fungal disease, it needs moisture to spread but infections still occur in the dry years we’ve been seeing lately in the Prairies. Justine Cornelsen, who was an agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada before joining BrettYoung as agronomic and regulatory services […] Read more
The first confirmed clubroot cases in the Municipal District of Smoky River (Peace region) and in the Counties of Grande Prairie (Peace region) and Wheatland (east of Calgary) were found in 2020.
Canola, Features

And the canola disease surveys say…

The 2020 numbers on blackleg, sclerotinia stem rot, clubroot, verticillium stripe and others across the Prairies

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Western Canada’s crop disease specialists have spent the past few months finalizing results from canola field disease surveys executed during the 2020 growing season. Blackleg According to those surveys, 45.4 per cent of 350 canola fields and five mustard fields evaluated across Alberta in 2020 had blackleg. The average rate of infection was 6.4 plants […] Read more
There were many unhealthy-looking plants with blackened stems that had developed cankers near the soil surface. The plants were also suffering from premature stalk drydown.
Canola, Crops, Features

Crop advisor casebook: Canola shelling out while swathing

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the January 5, 2020 issue of Grainews

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Jeff is a farmer located near Brandon, Man., who grows canola, wheat and soybeans. He was out swathing a canola field in early September when he decided he should give me a call. The crop, which was at 70 per cent seed colour change, appeared to be shelling out while it was being cut and […] Read more

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