In the spring, several regions across the Prairies experienced heavy flea beetle and cutworm pressure in their canola crops, along with some diamondback moth pressure later in the season.

Keep in mind that flea beetles overwinter in the Prairies, so if you experienced high flea beetle pressure in 2017 you will want to keep an eye on your emerging canola crops in 2018.

As well, if you’re concerned about flea beetles or cutworms in 2018, be sure to investigate premium options for controlling these insects on your canola seed when ordering your canola seed for 2018.

Precipitation across the Prairies in 2017 was extremely variable. Agriculture Canada’s latest maps show the per cent of average precipitation from April 1 to August 31 ranged from less than 40 per cent of average moisture in drought stricken areas, to 150 to 200 per cent of average moisture in the wettest areas.

Regardless of whether you found yourself in a wet zone or a dry zone this season, you’d be wise to take a closer look at your residual soil fertility. In high moisture areas, for example, you may have lost fertility due to leeching, and in dry conditions the crop may not have taken up all of the nutrients that were supplied.

Chadrick Carley is an agronomic services manager with Syngenta Canada.

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That’s why you may want to consider using a true desiccant for more precise control over your harvest timing.

However, if controlling perennial weeds is a big concern — or you have a highly variable field — you may want to consider glyphosate or glyphosate plus a harvest aid.

On the other hand, if you got a good plant stand that provided uniform maturity — along with low weed populations, minimal disease or insect damage — then a true desiccant will provide fast dry down to ensure you get that crop harvested as quickly as possible.

Once you’ve chosen between a true desiccant and glyphosate, make sure you’re keeping up good spray practices. Coverage and maximum crop canopy penetration are key.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Maintain a slow, steady speed.
• Don’t spray in direct sunlight and heat.
• Optimize your spray nozzle pattern and height for good coverage.
• Remember that high water volumes provide the best coverage.

If you have any questions or concerns about drying down your straight-cut canola crop, get in touch with your local service rep before you spray.

Chadrick Carley is an agronomic services manager with Syngenta Canada.

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Aim to seed into moisture to give your beans a better start. If possible, try to time seeding so that it’s at least a couple days before a major rainfall, as too much cold water in the soil can impact emergence.

Crop rotation is important to consider, since common root diseases such as rhizoctonia, can affect both canola and soybeans. But smart crop rotation can also help you ensure that you’re keeping disease inoculum levels to a minimum when rotating out of non-host crops. Generally, the best practice is to seed soybeans after a cereal crop.

Weed control timing is especially important in soybeans, as they are not a highly competitive crop. Early competition from weeds will result in plants that are smaller, weaker, not as vigorous, and ultimately contribute lower yields.

The “critical weed-free period” for soybeans is from emergence until the third trifoliate. Use tank mix options suited for your growing area during your first herbicide application so that you can extend your length of weed control.

Marc Brown is a soybean research associate with Syngenta Canada.

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You might start off by seeing bare patches that can be small, one or two-metre gaps, or larger areas where you have thin stands with stunted and missing plants.

Wireworms tend to feed along seed rows, and are attracted to germinating seeds, roots and seedlings. Look for stems and roots that have been heavily damaged — even shredded — rather than cut off cleanly.

Other telltale signs of wireworm feeding include: plants that emerge normally and then suddenly die around the one= or two-leaf stage, or seedlings that put out extra tillers in an attempt to survive.

Before seeding, try to get a sense of wireworm pressure by laying out wireworm bait ball traps.

Wireworm bait balls can be prepared by combining oatmeal, honey and water, creating a baseball-sized ball. The traps are designed to produce CO2, which attracts wireworms looking for their next meal.

Pick a few random areas of your field and bury the bait balls about four to six inches below the soil surface. Mark your traps with flags, and then check back in seven to 10 days.

Depending on your wireworm pressure, you might see several holes chewed through the bait balls, or wireworms still actively feeding on them.

Mark Mercier is a seedcare specialist with Syngenta Canada.

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Fusarium is now established across Western Canada, and in years when environmental conditions favour the disease, it can have devastating impacts on grain yield and quality — as we saw in 2016.

Fortunately, cereal breeders have been working to improve fusarium tolerance. There are several recently released varieties of hard red spring wheat with superior genetics that continue to improve on yield while helping you manage disease, improve grain quality, and reduce grain mycotoxin levels.

Genetic tolerance alone isn’t a silver bullet, but rather an important foundation for your integrated fusarium control strategy that should also include crop rotation and fungicides.

Choosing a new variety also brings all the benefits that come with using certified seed including assurances around purity, germ, and seed-borne fusarium levels.

Certified seed and a quality seed treatment maximize plant stands and early season vigour for a more competitive and even crop. This will result in a more synchronized heading, which is beneficial if a fungicide at heading is required for fusarium.

– Dr. Bryan Ulmer, is a cereals product evaluation scientist with Syngenta Canada.

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Canola seedlings can compensate for flea beetle feeding and recover — just so long as the flea beetle pressure isn’t heavy or sustained for long periods of time.

Seed treatments are going to serve as your first line of defence, as several of the latest products on the market can help keep flea beetle thresholds down while helping your crop emerge evenly.

Another important management strategy is getting good, even emergence by optimizing plant populations. Achieving early plant stands of 10 to15 plants per square foot will go a long ways in minimizing early season flea beetle damage.

However, when plant populations dip below seven plants per square foot, there will be more flea beetles per plant, so scouting your fields is critical up to the four-leaf stage.

Seeding depth is important in order achieve quick emergence, and will depend on your soil moisture in the spring and, to some extent, soil type. In addition, good seed-to-soil contact is critical when planting into high crop residue from the previous year.

Ted Labun is a seedcare technical lead with Syngenta Canada.

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The first step is to determine the natural maturity of the crop by watching the colour change from green to yellow, as well as the seed maturity. Desiccating too early can lead to yield, grade and quality losses.

Next, make sure you apply your desiccant at the right time of day — ideally in cooler lower-light conditions as you move into the evening. Desiccants work by bursting cells on the plant’s leaf surface to release moisture.

Before you spray your desiccant, make sure you’re using the right rate and water volume. True desiccant products work on contact, drying down any green material they hit. Spraying with higher water volumes help ensure that you cover all areas of the plant to get uniform drydown.

Keep in mind that pulses have the ability to keep growing and flowering. Applying a systemic product will help shut down the plant’s growth and thin out the canopy five to seven days prior to when you’d want to go in with your desiccant.

This agronomic tip is brought to you by Carolyn Ruzicka, agronomic service representative, South Saskatchewan, with Syngenta Canada. 

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It’s common to see several dozen volunteers per square foot emerge during the first flush. And while that may not seem like a huge amount, they can be plentiful enough to create weed competition headaches with this year’s wheat or glyphosate tolerant soybeans.

That’s why it’s important to use a chemistry combination that’s going to give you effective control at pre-seeding and in crop.

Herbicide groups 4, 6 and 27 are known to be excellent choices. In general, anything with a dose of 2,4-D and a second mode of action is going to give you good volunteer canola control.

Group 14 herbicides are another good option. Some can be applied pre-seed, while others can be used in glyphosate tolerant soybean crops in certain labelled geographies.

If you’re using a Group 6 to give yourself a good burn down, wait until you see two true leaves on the canola. Spray too early and you’ll only burn off the cotyledon and not the plant’s growing points.

This agronomic tip from the field was provided by Sterling Mitchell, agronomic service representative with Syngenta Canada.

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Field selection, fertility, varietal selection and planting populations are some of the key elements to be considered during the planning phase.

As the planning phase ends and you move to in-season practices, your early season weed control will be important to a successful crop.

Soybeans have a “critical weed-free period” that takes place between emergence and third trifoliate. During that period, your soybeans aren’t very competitive, and not controlling weeds properly can lead to irreversible yield damage.

In general, glyphosate will be your go-to weed control product. However, you may want to look at tank mixing with another product that provides residual control. That way, you’re giving seedlings a chance to gain some ground when they’re most vulnerable to weed competition.

Of course, even with all your careful preparation there’s the chance for a late frost to force a re-plant. That’s where you’ll want to make sure that the residual product you decide to tank mix with your glyphosate won’t injure the other crop you’ve penciled in as your back-up plan.

This agronomy tip was brought to you by Doug Fotheringham, agronomic service representative, with Syngenta Canada.

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