Not that I’m complaining at all about having worked for one organization for a very long time, but when you’ve had one email account all that time, you get put on a lot of lists and wind up getting hundreds of emails a day. I’m not complaining about that either, because even when an email isn’t directly relevant to your daily business — or, by extension, mine — there’s valuable food for thought in there.

Case in point: today, as I was sitting down to fill this space, I got a message from a proudly Canadian crop chem company, announcing its plan to seek an expanded label for a nematicide to cover soybean cyst nematode (SCN) for the 2026 growing season.

That got my attention — because ready or not, SCN has made it to the Prairies. It made its first appearance in Manitoba in 2019 and, as of 2024, was found to be present in soy fields in five RMs (Thompson, Norfolk-Treherne, Rhineland, Emerson-Franklin, Montcalm). The pest has already become a significant problem for soy growers in the U.S. and Ontario and has already beaten some varieties developed for SCN resistance.

A soil-borne roundworm, SCN infects soybean roots and can cause yield losses of up to 30 per cent by the time symptoms are visible to the soy grower. Once it’s taken up residence in a field, it can’t be completely eradicated. Much like with clubroot — the subject of our cover story this week — a farmer’s first defense is to prevent it from ever reaching a field. That means cleaning equipment, vehicles, tools, clothes and shoes before moving on from one field to the next, especially if those items come in from areas where it’s already been detected.

It also means choosing SCN-resistant soybean seed, not to mention rotating through different resistant traits. It also means rotating your fields to include non-host plants, making sure to keep potential host weeds in check.

So, an in-furrow nematicide registered against SCN, such as Mississauga-based Vive Crop Protection now proposes its Averland FC brand could be, would be another significant prong in that multi-pronged approach. Surely a made-in-Canada product would be a boon for Prairie soy growers before SCN gets any further foothold up here, right?

Well, no. This announcement was that Vive is seeking approval — from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — to expand the Averland label for 2026. I optimistically asked whether Vive has a timeline to seek PMRA approval for same, and was quickly informed the company “do(es) not have plans to register Averland FC in Canada.”

Mind you, this wasn’t a surprise. Our colleague Robert Arnason at The Western Producer has spoken to Vive previously about its current business model, which focuses almost exclusively on the U.S. market. Today Vive has just one product registered in Canada (AZteroid FC, a fungicide for potato crops) compared to seven in the U.S.

It’s not that Vive considers Canada to be small-potatoes, so to speak. Rather, it’s found Canada’s regulatory process increasingly unpredictable and slow. The U.S. path to registration for novel crop tech such as Vive’s is still complex — but is at least clear as to what tests must be done, what information the company must provide and how long the process will take. And other companies and critics have complained that the Canadian process has become more political in nature — so in the interest of being seen to be transparent about the process, it’s now bogged down in what Conservative ag critic John Barlow called “death by consultation.”

By themselves, those concerns aren’t very new, and so far they haven’t forced Vive to haul up stakes and move their entire operation to the U.S. More recently, last fall, federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) government experts’ working group on pesticide management noted there appear to be “regulatory barriers to registering products in Canada that do not exist elsewhere” and that “initiatives to support smaller applicants, such as pre-submission consultations, were not seen as effective in addressing this perception.”

Moreover, the working group “voiced concerns about a growing technology gap in crop protection products between Canada and the U.S. that could put Canadian agriculture producers at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace” — and “recommends that federal government departments and agencies explore ways to make Canada a more attractive market to register new pest control products, notably biopesticides.”

We’re not suggesting here that Canada adopt a regime of copy-pasting and rubber-stamping U.S. crop protection approvals for the Canadian market. It’s also now possible our neighbour’s administration won’t be as forthcoming on matters of regulatory co-operation and harmonization as we once hoped.

But given Canada’s interest in encouraging new registrations, farmers’ need for diverse chemistries, and crop chem companies’ interest in making money, if not at least more quickly recovering their R&D costs, there’s a case to be made for the regulators and regulated to meet each other halfway — or at least somewhere on a scale between government accepting the value of submissions to U.S. regulators at par, and companies not even bothering to seek Canada’s approval at all.

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“Probably 25 per cent of the field was impacted,” the production specialist told attendees at a Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization field day near Melita, Man. “One in four plants were dying off, and that was actually in the drought year 2021.”

Phytophthora root rot is a water mould disease and a relative newcomer to Manitoba, affecting both field peas and soybeans. As with other soybean diseases, it’s gained presence in the province as soy acres expand.

The rise of soy

Today, soybeans have a solid foothold in Manitoba’s top three crops, vying with wheat and canola. In late June, Statistics Canada reported about 1.4 million acres were seeded in Manitoba.

Twenty years ago, they were almost non-existent. At the turn of the millennium, soybeans in Manitoba were a novelty crop, taking up less than 50,000 acres. By the middle of that decade, the crop had clawed its way to several hundred thousand acres.

From there, popularity took off. By 2013, it topped one million acres and hit an all-time high in 2017, when farmers planted almost 2.3 million acres.

Behind the crop, though, came diseases and pests. In 2019, Manitoba clocked its first positive soil tests for soybean cyst nematode. In 2021, above-ground symptoms were noted in central Manitoba.

Phytophthora has a longer history in the province. In 2017, as soybean acres reached their peak, samples submitted by MPSG to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada tested positive for phytophthora in 35 per cent of the 89 fields surveyed that year.

Then came the drought. The industry group found no cases through its monitoring program in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, it found it in 11 per cent of fields.

Spore taste

The disease starts with resting oospores within the soil. When the oospores detect a nearby soybean root, they swim to it through a thin film of soil moisture.

The obvious first sign of a problem is when leaves start to wilt.

“The leaves stay attached to the plant when they’re wilted and you’ll have a brown lesion up from the soil,” Schmidt said. “When you pull those plants, they’ll pull really easily out of the ground because those roots are all rotted.”

Infection has a similar look to northern stem canker, which also causes brown lesions, but the latter attacks the stem rather than the root.

“When you pull that plant (infected with northern stem canker) out of the ground, there will be some resistance,” Schmidt said. “That’s a quick way to tell one from the other.

“But at the end of the day, a lab test at the Manitoba crop diagnostic lab in Winnipeg is going to be the best way to tell them apart.”

The field that sticks in Schmidt’s memory in the Souris area, southwest of Brandon, was infected with both phytophthora and northern stem canker.

The new disease reality

Soy and pulse experts like Schmidt urge producers to be more vigilant against soybean disease. Phytophthora root rot is one pathogen of concern.

“We’re still in a bit of a honeymoon where we’re not facing lot of major soybean diseases.” Schmidt said. “But coming down the pipeline, phytophthora is the one that we do have up here and, having this much moisture, I’d expect to see these symptoms in your soybeans, especially if you’re on tight rotations.”

Manitoba has had good conditions for development of fungal disease. May and June were cold and wet, sparking fears of sclerotinia and blackleg for canola growers, while Manitoba Agriculture noted problems with ergot in cereals.

For phytophthora, MPSG does have recent surveillance initiatives in place, Schmidt noted. Soil testing last year found less than five per cent of fields with symptoms, but “83 per cent of soils had phytophthora in them,” she said.

“Either we weren’t seeing symptoms mostly because it was dry or because major gene resistance and partial resistance was giving us some protection.”

Starting in 2022, the industry group began an assessment program to independently gauge resistance in different soybean varieties.

Built-in defence

There are two types of soybean resistance against phytophthora root. The first is major gene resistance, which largely stops infection at any growth stage in the plant’s life.

“That’s the most common form of resistance and the way it works is complete resistance to phytophthora throughout the growing season,” Schmidt said. “If (varieties) have a major resistance gene versus phytophthora, it will be listed in Seed Manitoba.”

The second type is partial resistance or field tolerance. In this case, plants still get infected but are able to tolerate the infection and keep growing. Symptoms aren’t as severe and can be variety specific.

“We’ve actually developed a soil test where we can sample phytophthora and find, specifically, what pathotypes are living in the soil,” Schmidt said. “We only used to be able to say we know it’s phytophthora.”

Knowing the race in a specific field can help producers choose varieties and better manage the disease, she noted, as well as informing development of new resistant soybean varieties and new approaches to management.

In 2016, four races of phytophthora were identified, according to the MPSG website. Ensuing years saw the dominant race shift and, in 2018, a new one was detected.

“We expect more PRR (phytophthora root rot) races and pathotypes to be identified over time, as is the case in Ontario and the U.S. where soybeans have a longer history,” the MPSG website states.

“Race-specific resistance is still a beneficial management tool, but partial resistance will become more important over time to combat numerous PRR races.”

Last year, the association surveyed 70 soybean fields and sent soil samples to a Quebec lab for analysis.

The post Phytophthora’s Prairie evolution appeared first on Grainews.

According to Mario Tenuta, a University of Manitoba soil scientist, harmful soil nematodes can reduce yields by siphoning off the contents of roots and stems, robbing the plants of energy and weakening their defences against crop diseases and other pests.

“They also compromise root function,” says Tenuta. “The galls and lesions they cause reduce water and nutrient uptake and can allow secondary pathogens to enter roots and cause disease. Some nematodes vector plant viruses.”

What’s worrisome about harmful nematodes is you may not realize you have them in your fields. Tenuta explains there are a wide range of symptoms, and next to viruses, nematodes are probably the most difficult infection to diagnose. Other symptoms aside from root galls and lesions include:

• Root rot
• Lack of fine roots
• Stem swelling and twisting
• Dwarfing/stunting
• Chlorosis

Here is an up-to-date look at nematodes that are a present or potential threat in the Prairies in pulses and other crops.

Tenuta says there are reports of P. neglectus causing reductions to spring peas and lentils in the Pacific Northwest. He notes it’s a potential pest for other crops as well.

“In soils with very high populations of the pest, it can reduce potato yield, but levels need to be very high. It’s also a pest of canola and wheat in Australia. Our research has shown it very much enjoys soybean and to a lesser extent chickpea,” says Tenuta. “It is recommended to examine the roots of those crops in field areas that are puzzling to sort out productivity problems. Look for black and brown lesions on roots. Get a soil nematode analysis done.”

Stem and bulb nematode (Ditylenchus dipsaci)

D. dipsaci is a serious issue for garlic producers throughout Ontario, Quebec and the northeastern United States. It infects about 500 plant species in total around the world. In terms of its potential threat on the Prairies, this pest favours yellow pea and is also a risk to dry beans.

Stem and bulb nematodes were seemingly found by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in some yellow pea fields in Saskatchewan, southern Alberta and southwestern Manitoba in 2004. However, analysis of pea samples by Tenuta’s lab determined the nematodes were not in the peas but instead in weed seed, specifically in creeping thistle seed (a common weed in yellow pea fields in the Prairies). Through molecular analysis, Tenuta and his team also found the species was not D. dipsaci but the stem nematode of thistle (Ditylenchus weischeri).

Because D. dipsaci favours garlic, however, it remains a threat to pulse crops on the Prairies. It was found in 2014 in two garlic fields near Winnipeg, Man., caused by infected garlic bulbs imported from Ontario the previous fall.

“There are surprisingly more garlic growers on the Prairies than you’d think,” Tenuta says.

“We need to be vigilant in spotting the nematode in garlic. Look for rotting bulbs and send samples to a lab for a check.”

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) has been moving northward through the United States for many years. It is already well established in Ontario and will eventually spread to all soybean growing areas of Canada, like it has in the United States.

Survey efforts led by Tenuta and his colleagues that began in 2012 led to SCN being detected for the first time in Manitoba in 2019. There was another confirmed case in July 2021.

Tenuta says SCN is now in five rural Manitoba municipalities — Thompson, Norfolk Treherne, Rhineland, Emerson-Franklin and Montcalm. “Given the large gap between regions with positive identification, it may be present in other areas as well,” he notes.

As for all nematodes, identifying SCN is difficult. There are no distinct, above-ground symptoms and at low levels of infection plants may still appear healthy. At high levels of infection plants may appear stunted and chlorotic or necrotic, which could be due to many other factors. Digging up the roots is the best way to identify this pest. The most high-risk areas of a field are generally low-yielding areas, approaches and field edges, low spots, shelterbelts and high pH areas.

Tenuta recommends scouting for SCN from mid-July through September, during the nematode’s reproductive stages until maturity, by gently digging up soybean roots and examining them for cysts. It’s recommended to soak the roots in water first to avoid breaking off any cysts that may be present. Early on, cysts are white and lemon shaped. They’re also much smaller than root nodules and may require the use of a magnifying lens. “They pop between fingernails like a zit,” says Tenuta.

He adds growers can manage SCN through rotating to non-host crops and controlling host weed species. Tenuta’s list of host crop plants for SCN includes:

• Adzuki bean
• Alsike clover
• Bird’s-foot trefoil
• Black bean
• Common vetch
• Cowpea/black-eyed pea
• Cranberry bean
• Crimson clover
• Crown vetch
• Great northern bean
• Hairy vetch
• Kidney bean
• Lespedeza
• Lima bean
• Lupines
• Mung bean
• Navy bean
• Pea
• Pinto bean
• Soybean
• Snap bean
• Sweet clover

The list of host weeds for SCN includes:

• American vetch
• Carolina vetch
• Common chickweed
• Common mullein
• Field pennycress
• Hemp sesbania
• Henbit
• Hop clover
• Milk vetch
• Mouse-ear chickweed
• Pokeweed
• Purple deadnettle
• Purslane
• Shepherd’s purse
• Wild mustard
• Winged pigweed
• Wood vetch

Other ways producers can manage soybean cyst nematodes are by growing SCN-resistant varieties and reducing tillage. Tenuta says because the nematodes spread easily and rapidly, growers should thoroughly clean soil from equipment, vehicles, soil sampling gear and clothing. SCN eggs can survive for several years in the absence of a soybean crop.

Cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae)

Cereal cyst nematodes have been found to reduce yields of wheat, barley and oats in the Pacific Northwest states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, and even east to Montana. Being a cyst nematode, these nematodes look similar to SCN. Look out for them to establish most likely in southern Alberta first.

Stubby root nematode (Trichodorus and Paratrichodorus)

These nematodes have a wide range of host crops including corn, soybean and sorghum. They are found throughout the United States and in many areas of Canada. They can damage crops when they’re in soil in high populations. But the most damage they inflict comes from vectoring viruses of crops. For example, corky ringspot of potato caused by the tobacco rattle virus is vectored by stubby root nematodes (the virus is transmitted as the nematodes feed on potato roots).

Root lesion nematode (Pratylenchus penetrans)

This nematode affects potatoes and corn but has an extremely wide host range. This includes sugar beet, wheat and oat as well as three pulse crops — field pea, faba bean and chickpea. Fortunately, P. penetrans hasn’t been found in the Prairies yet, Tenuta says, but this could change as growing seasons get longer. A longer growing season increases the chances of the pest going through enough life cycles in one year to establish permanently in a field.

Pin nematode (Paratylenchus)

Tenuta’s lab, the Soil Ecology Laboratory at the University of Manitoba, has been working with Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and Michelle Hubbard, a plant pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Swift Current, Sask., to determine if pin nematodes are involved in the mysterious disease affecting chickpea fields in southern Saskatchewan. They have been found in extremely high levels in the affected region and greenhouse work has shown these nematodes can reproduce on chickpea. Research is continuing to see if pin nematodes are causing the chickpea disease.

Control products

Nematicides are used to control nematodes. There really hasn’t been a need for nematicide use in the Prairies up to now, Tenuta says. However, with concerns over harmful nematodes building in the Prairies, it is good to know there are control options.

According to Tenuta, control options include a few older nematicides in carbamate and organophosphate groups. Newer products include fluensulfone, fluazaindolizine, fluopyram and cyclobutrifluram nematicides as well as fungal metabolites, plant immune stimulants and biological control groups of various soil bacteria or fungi.

The post Plant parasites appeared first on Grainews.

Crop surveys by University of Manitoba Ph.D. student Nazanin Ghavami with soil science professor Mario Tenuta and his students have turned up soybean cyst nematode at “extremely low” levels on soybean plant roots in one field in each of four south-central municipalities: Norfolk-Treherne, Rhineland, Emerson-Franklin and Montcalm.

According to Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers in a statement Monday, the pest, a microscopic-sized roundworm, was identified by visual and molecular DNA methods in four out of 106 sampled fields across 18 municipalities. Select fields have been sampled and surveyed in Manitoba’s soy-growing regions since 2012.

Tenuta, in a paper released Monday, noted economical levels of crop damage weren’t observed in any of the four fields with the pest. The low levels are consistent with “recent establishment” rather than a long-undetected problem.

Already confirmed in soy-growing areas of Ontario, Quebec, North Dakota and Minnesota, soybean cyst nematode feeds on soybean roots, causing yellowed leaves, stunted plants and yield loss. Once established in a field, it can remain in the soil for many years.

Cysts were found in the four fields in question during the 2017 survey and later confirmed by DNA tests to be those of the soybean cyst nematode, at “extremely low” levels of two, one, 14, and 14 cysts per five pounds of soil.

Positive fields were resampled in May this year and two were confirmed as having cysts, at levels of two and 20 per five pounds of soil. The field with cysts at the higher level, which was planted to soybeans this year, was visited again in August and found to have cysts on roots consistent in appearance with soybean cyst nematode, Tenuta wrote.

To put the Manitoba cases in perspective, cyst levels in areas of Ontario and the U.S. Midwest where the nematode has been present for “many decades” can be as high as 3,000 to 4,000 per five pounds of soil.

That said, given the “large gap” between the host municipalities with positive identification, “there is a possibility that (the nematode) may be present in fields that were not included in the survey, or may have established since sampling of a field has occurred.”

The Manitoba field in question had “no visible disease symptoms indicating damage from the nematode” such as stunting, poor canopy closure or chlorosis, Tenuta wrote.

The pest’s arrival in Manitoba fields can “still be avoided by preventing the spread of soil from one field to another,” MPSG said in its statement.

Furthermore, soybean growers should consider rotating with non-host crops for two to three years — and, in municipalities with positive cases, using resistant soybean varieties.

Populations of soybean cyst nematode can also be “minimized” by rotating growing cover crops, reducing tillage and controlling host weed species, the grower group said. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The main diseases in pulse and soybean crops are foliar diseases such as septoria brown spot, bacteria blight, downy mildew, stem diseases such as sclerotinia (white mould) and phytophthora (exclusive to soybeans), and root rots like fusarium, rhizoctonia and pythium.

Foliar diseases are very conspicuous. “If you’re walking in the field you see yellow spots on the leaves, and it looks bad, but the foliar diseases actually have the lowest impact on yield and quality so we’re encouraging farmers and agronomists to keep an eye out for the root and the stem diseases,” says Cassandra Tkachuk, production specialist with the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG). “White mould is a stem disease and we don’t always see it and not in high numbers. We keep track of how prevalent these diseases are year by year and if there are any new ones, we’re trying to identify if they’re here yet. The root rots including phytophthora and fusarium, are our top root rots. There’s also rhizoctonia and pythium but we don’t see those ones very much.”

Root rot issues

Saskatchewan saw some root rot issues in 2018 despite the dry weather, not that it impacted yields that much in the drier areas, says Sherrilyn Phelps, agronomy manager with Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG). “In peas and lentils, we’re seeing a lot of fusarium as well as aphanomyces. With soybeans, we did see some phytophthora stem rot this year, which was confirmed by lab tests. Root rots on some of the other pulses, chickpea and fababean, weren’t much of an issue.”

AFFC pathologists, Debra McLaren in Brandon and Bob Conner in Morden are conducting research into soybean root rot diseases, and samples are sent to them each year for analysis.

In Manitoba, root disease surveys of soybean have been conducted with the assistance of staff from Manitoba Agriculture and the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers. “Our research has shown that root rot of soybean in Western Canada is primarily caused by several species of fusarium,” says McLaren.

Drs. Sheau-Fang Hwang and Kan-Fa Chang at the Crop Development Centre North in Edmonton recently reported on the occurrence of Fusarium proliferatum as a new root rot pathogen of soybean in Canada. The same fusarium species can also cause damping-off or seedling blight of soybeans in which the seedlings die before or shortly after they emerge.

Field studies were conducted at Morden and Brandon to determine the effects of different root rot pathogens on the yields of soybean varieties with different levels of resistance. “It is critically important to quantify the magnitude and nature of damage caused by root disease in order to determine the need for developing and implementing new disease management strategies,” says Conner. “Understanding the disease-yield relationships is a prerequisite for measuring the agronomic efficacy and economic benefits of the management measures.”

Rotation is key

Crop rotations can be helpful in controlling root rot, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and phytophthora rot. If inoculum levels are high, Conner says, “crop rotations of five years or more with non-host crops like cereals and certain oilseed crops is effective in reducing the inoculum levels of the pathogens in the soil, so there is less disease and yield loss when soybeans are grown.”

Planting soybeans in warm, well-drained soils will reduce the severity of root diseases of soybeans. Agricultural practices that promote plant growth such as adequate soil fertilization and avoiding soil compaction and salinity will also reduce the adverse effects of root diseases on soybeans.

A number of fungicide seed treatments are available to control seedling blight caused by root pathogens, but most products do not persist long enough to effectively control root diseases past the seedling stage. “Many soybean cultivars have been developed that carry resistance to many of the common races of P. sojae or to the SCN, but growing resistant cultivars in short rotations should be avoided in order to prevent the buildup of new races that can attack formerly resistant cultivars,” advises Conner. “In future, resistance to root rot diseases in soybeans will become more common enabling better disease control and reducing losses in seed yield.”

This year McLaren, Conner and their team have expanded the scope of their studies on root rot and phytophthora rot to include all of the soybean-growing regions in Western and Eastern Canada. “We have co-operating scientists and crop specialists in each province, who will be conducting annual surveys of soybean root diseases to determine the incidence and severity of each disease and to identify the prevalent root pathogens and detect the presence of any new root diseases or new races of pre-existing pathogens.”

Ascochyta resistance found

Chickpea growers should note the level of ascochyta resistance found in a 2018 southern Saskatchewan survey. Chickpea samples (leaves, stems, pods, and/or seeds) showing ascochyta infection were submitted to Michelle Hubbard, research scientist with AAFC at Swift Current.

These samples were confirmed resistant to strobilurin fungicides. “These results indicate that in Saskatchewan there may be a high level of strobilurin resistance in chickpea ascochyta, which means fungicide plans need to be re-evaluated to ensure alternative modes of action are being used,” says the survey. “Results from the limited samples from 2018 indicate that strobilurin fungicides may no longer provide effective control of ascochyta in chickpeas.”

A larger survey is being planned for 2019.

On the lookout for SCN

The soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is an important root pathogen in many soybean growing-regions of the world. This pathogen not only damages soybeans’ root systems, but can also reduce nitrogen fixation by rhizobial bacteria. Often, SCN infection of the roots does not result in any obvious above-ground symptoms, especially where nematode numbers are low, but it can still reduce yield.

Over the past six years, the University of Manitoba and Manitoba Agriculture have collaborated on three surveys of Manitoba soybean fields for the presence of SCN. It’s known that SCN has reached the Manitoba-North Dakota border and soil samples from two commercial fields from the latest survey contain cyst nematodes that match the genetic fingerprint of SCN.

“We are not calling these fields positive for SCN just yet,” says Dr. Mario Tenuta of the Department of Soil Science at the University of Manitoba in a recent article for MPSG’s Pulse Beat magazine. “That won’t happen until soybeans grown in soil from those fields in the greenhouse show cysts on plant roots.”

The greenhouse tests are underway and results will be available by spring 2019. Tenuta encourages growers to be vigilant for SCN in their fields. “Symptoms are most visible on sandy soils where moisture stress is common or on heavier soils in years with low soil moisture. On clay soils such as in the Red River Valley, symptoms likely will only be evident when SCN levels become extremely high.” he says.

Confusing symptoms

Symptoms of SCN damage can be confused with other root health problems including water logging, iron chlorosis and root pathogens. And, SCN infection can often cause Sudden Death Syndrome in soybeans. SCN populations may increase as effects are unnoticed or misdiagnosed. “Field scouting is the grower’s most important tool in diagnosing SCN,” says Tenuta.

Growers should look for problem areas of yellowing and dwarf plants and sample soil by digging plants gently from six weeks after planting to three weeks before harvest. “When sampling earlier, cysts appear on roots close to the stem. When sampling later, cysts appear on new roots located deeper and farther away from the stem,” says Tenuta, who recommends using a shovel eight inches from the stem to lift the root system from soil, the dunking the root system and soil in a bucket of water to see the roots.

Cysts are visible to the eye but a magnifying lens is helpful. “Cysts are much smaller than nitrogen-fixing nodules, smaller than a pin-head,” says Tenuta. “They will be white or light yellow and lemon-shaped.”

It’s important to scout near field entrances, problem weed areas, poor yield areas, and where wind or flood waters have deposited soil.

More intense monitoring of Manitoba soybean fields for the presence of the SCN started in 2018. Soil samples from throughout the soybean growing areas in Manitoba were collected in the late summer and this winter they will be examined for the presence of the nematode. Once SCN is established in a field, it is not possible to completely eliminate the soybean cyst nematode.”

The post Pulse and soybean diseases to watch appeared first on Grainews.

Almost all of the new varieties on this list come with the glyphosate tolerant Roundup Ready 2 gene. Many have the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend gene, which brings tolerance to dicamba as well as glyphosate. Quarry Seed is taking a different path, offering two new non-GMO varieties.

Because Western Canada is (relatively) on the edges of the soybean-growing world, the first step to choosing your soybean variety is looking at your climate. The soybean maturity zones range from 0 in North Dakota (a shorter season) to IX in Florida (with a longer season). These zones are rated using Roman numerals, but we don’t have to worry about that, as all of Western Canada is so far north into the “0” zone that our zones are called “0”, “00” and “000” (with “000” being the shortest growing season). In some areas of Manitoba, “0” varieties are suitable. Saskatchewan growers will need to add one or two more zeros.

Each of these zones covers 200 to 300 kilometres from north to south. For a little more detail, there is a decimal point. For example, 00.2, or 00.9. In this case, the variety with the smaller decimal (00.2) will mature sooner than the variety with the higher decimal point (00.9).

Another way to gauge suitability for your regions is by looking at accumulated heat units. These are sometimes abbreviated as CHU, or “corn heat units.” Weather conditions will vary from year to year.

And now, on with the show. Here are the 36 soybean varieties coming to your favourite western Canadian retailers for the first time in 2019.

(Abbreviation cheat sheet)

Below is a guide to the abbreviations found in this list of new soybean varieties.

• CHU: corn heat units
• IDC: iron deficiency chlorosis
• IP: identity preserved
• PRR: phytophthora root rot
• RM: relative maturity
• SCN: soybean cyst nematode

BrettYoung Seeds

Karpo R2* is a new, high-yielding RR2 soybean for the early-mid soybean zone with 00.2 relative maturity. Karpo R2* has excellent tolerance to white mould, and is a tall plant with a great look. With solid roots, good IDC scores and very good PRR field resistance this variety has very good yield potential for an early soybean. Limited quantities will be available in 2019. *Pending registration.

Lassa R2X is a new Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean with excellent yield, white mould rating and soybean cyst nematode resistance. Lassa R2X is a 000.9 relative maturity bean making it a great fit in the very early soybean zones. It is a medium-height plant adapted to all soil types and row spacings. Lassa R2X has very good field resistance to phytophthora root rot (PRR), with the Rps1C gene. Limited quantities will be available in 2019.

Sunna R2X is a new Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean with excellent yield and soybean cyst nematode resistance. Sunna R2X is a 00.3 relative maturity bean making it a great fit in the early soybean zones. It is a tall, bushy plant adapted to all soil types and row spacings. Sunna R2X is rated semi-tolerant to IDC and has very good field resistance to phytophthora root rot (PRR), with the Rps1C gene. Limited quantities will be available in 2019.

Vidar R2X is a new full season Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean with excellent yield, white mould rating and soybean cyst nematode resistance. Vidar R2X is a 00.8 relative maturity soybean making it a great fit in the long maturity soybean zone. It is rated tolerant to IDC. It is a medium height, bushy plant adapted to all soil types and well suited to wider row spacings. Vidar R2X has very good field resistance to phytophthora root rot (PRR), with the Rps1C gene. Limited quantities will be available in 2019.

Corteva Agriscience, Agriculture Division of DowDupont

B0040L1* has the GENNRR2Y gene, and reaches maturity at 2350 heat units. Brevant has found a 4.2 bushels/acre increase over competitors at 11 locations. The variety has very good IDC and phytophthora root rot tolerance. B0040L1 has excellent yield potential, excellent field appearance with tawny pubescence. It is a narrow-leaf soybean with medium to bushy canopy. *Pending registration.

B0064S1 has the GENNRR2Y gene, and reaches maturity at 2450 heat units. The variety has excellent yield potential, cyst nematode resistance, the Rps 1k gene for phytophthora root rot and a very good IDC rating. B0064S1 has good plant standability, good growth on heavier soils to the Rps 1k gene and excellent field emergence with medium-tall plant height.

B0067Z1 has the GENNRR2Y gene, and reaches maturity at 2450 heat units. The variety has excellent yield potential, very good phytophthora root rot tolerance and excellent IDC tolerance. B0067Z1has excellent yield potential for maturity, strong emergence and medium to short plant height.

P0007A65R reaches maturity at 2200 heat units. This new ultra-early soybean has excellent yield potential for an early maturing product. It has outstanding harvest standability scores and very good shatter score and field emergence.

P006A37X has the GENNRR2X (Xtend) gene, and reaches maturity at 2425 heat units. Pioneer Hi-Bred found a 2.1 bushel/acre increase over P006T46R in 13 large-scale trials. It has very good IDC tolerance, outstanding yield potential and harvest standability, average plant height for maturity. The Xtend gene provides an additional option for weed control (dicamba, as well as glyphosate).

P00A49X has the GENNRR2X (Xtend) gene, and reaches maturity at 2525 heat units. Pioneer Hi-Bred found a 1.4 bushel/acre increase over P006T46R in 10 large-scale trials. This variety has cyst nematode resistance and very good IDC tolerance. It has outstanding yield potential for a later maturity soybean, good harvest standability, and the Xtend gene provides an additional option for weed control.

Croplan

RX000918 in the 000.9 maturity group and reaches maturity at 2275 heat units. It is a taller variety that stands well. It prefers light fertile soils and narrow rows. It has PRR Resistance Rps1c, good PRR field tolerance, SCN tolerance, very good white mould tolerance and a very good IDC rating.

RX00218 is part of the 00.2 maturity group and reaches maturity at 2350 heat units. This taller variety stands well and has strong yield potential. It has very good white mould tolerance and good IDC rating.

DEKALB

DKB0005-44 (000.5RM or 2175 CHU), is an ultra-early soybean variety. This variety is a branchy, medium height plant with excellent standability. It provides excellent white mould tolerance and very good tolerance to phytophthora root rot (Rps 1c) and brown stem rot.

DKB0009-89 (000.9RM or 2275 CHU), is an excellent Roundup Ready 2 Xtend variety in early maturity zones. This medium height variety is bushy, branches well and has excellent standability. It has a good defensive disease package with resistance to soybean cyst nematode (R3), very good field tolerance to phytophthora root rot (Rps 1c&k) and excellence tolerance to white mould.

DKB006-99 (00.6RM or 2450 CHU), is a shorter, bushy soybean variety that branches well and is best suited to wide rows and lower populations. This variety is also well-suited to tougher growing conditions. It provides resistance to soybean cyst nematode (R3) and very good field tolerance to phytophthora root rot (Rps 3a).

DKB007-67 (00.7RM or 2475 CHU), is a Roundup Ready 2 Xtend variety with excellent standability and very good early season vigour that performs well on all soil types. This variety has very good tolerance to white mould, good field tolerance to phytophthora root rot (Rps 3a) and iron deficiency chlorosis and has resistance to soybean cyst nematode (R3).

Maisex

RX Cedo is an Xtend variety (00.3 RM or 2375 CHU). It is a tall, aggressive variety with impressive standability and white mould tolerance.

RX Acron is an Xtend variety (00.7RM or 2450CHU). This variety excels under tough conditions in heavier soil types. Taller plant height promotes easy harvest. This is a SCN-resistant variety.

NorthStar Genetics

NSC Newton RR2X is a new line with the Xtend trait. This variety requires approximately 2375 CHUs to reach maturity or a relative maturity rating of 00.3. NSC Newton RR2X is a tall, erect variety with excellent pod height and standability. It exhibits cold tolerance which imparts exceptional spring vigor, and is a perfect fit in reduced or zero-till environments.

NSC Sperling RR2Y is broadly adapted across mid- to long-season zones, with a relative maturity of 00.6 (2450 CHU), with yields comparable to varieties in much longer maturity ranges. As a medium bush and medium height plant structure, along with excellent white mould tolerance, it works well in medium to wide row spacing. It has aggressive early season growth, with very good IDC and stress tolerance.

Proven Seed

PV 17s0007 R2X is an ultra-early Roundup Ready Xtend variety from Proven Seed. This variety is well suited to new soybean growing areas in Saskatchewan and Alberta. PV 17s007 R2X stands well, is suited for narrow row production in lighter soils and has excellent white mould tolerance. Available exclusively at Nutrien Ag Solutions.

PV 15s0009 R2X is an ultra-early, tall variety with excellent standability making it easy to harvest. With excellent yield for maturity and phytophthora and SCN resistance, this Roundup Ready Xtend Proven Seed soybean allows production west of traditional soybean growing areas. Available exclusively at Nutrien Ag Solutions.

PV 16s004 R2X, a tall bushy Roundup Ready Xtend variety, is a great choice for heavier soils in wide row production. With phytophthora and SCN resistance, this Proven Seed soybean is a strong defensive option for reliable results under tough conditions. Available exclusively at Nutrien Ag Solutions.

PV 14s008 RR2 is a full season variety with excellent yield potential. With a bushy growth habit, it is well suited to wide row production. This Proven Seed soybean has strong performance in high pH and high organic matter fields making it a great fit for the Red River Valley of Manitoba. Available exclusively at Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Quarry Seed

Dayo R2X is a RR2Y Xtend soybean with 000.5 RM/2225 CHU. This variety has excellent sclerotinia and IDC tolerance. It is one of the earliest varieties on the market and is best suited to conventional soil management.

Devo R2X is a RR2Y Xtend soybean with 00.2 RM/2350 CHU. This variety has excellent sclerotinia tolerance and great IDC tolerance. It is extremely vigorous with early flowering and pod set, and stands out in minimum tillage.

Dinero R2X is a RR2Y Xtend soybean with 00.3 RM/2400 CHU. This variety has excellent sclerotinia tolerance and great IDC tolerance. It is a healthy, robust plant that will impress from Day 1. It has great bushing capacity and excellent vigour.

Alaska, 00.2 RM/2350 CHU, has excellent sclerotinia tolerance. It has excellent standability, excellent yield potential and is well adapted to all soil types. This is an IP, non-GMO variety.

Maxus, 00.3 RM/2400 CHU, has excellent sclerotinia tolerance. It has very aggressive vigour out of the ground with excellent standability, excellent yield potential and is well adapted to all soil types. This is an IP, non-GMO variety.

SeCan

Fisher R2X is a medium-height plant with a great disease package. On top of that it is early maturing (2275 CHU) making it a great fit for western Manitoba and Saskatchewan, it is rated as semi-tolerant to iron deficiency chlorosis.

Prince R2X is a bushy, medium height, high yielding, early maturing soybean (2325 CHU). It has a great disease resistance package for Western Canada. Prince R2X is rated as semi-tolerant to iron deficiency chlorosis.

Bourke R2X is a tall, slim high yielding 2400 CHU plant. Straw strength is great with pods high off the ground. The Manitoba Pulse Growers Association rating for iron chlorosis is semi-tolerant however it looks to be a poor semi-tolerant or a really good susceptible rating.

Syngenta

S0007-B7X is the earliest Syngenta soybean variety, with strong emergence that allows for early planting. This Roundup Ready 2 Xtend variety offers strong tolerance to sclerotinia white mould, and the Rps1c gene for outstanding tolerance to phytophthora root rot.

S006-M4X delivers reliable genetics in a Roundup Ready 2 Xtend trait platform for consistent performance across yield environments. It has excellent standability with strong tolerance to sclerotinia white mould, and above average tolerance to phytophthora root rot from the Rps1c gene.

Thunder Seed Canada

TH89000.5 R2XN is an ultra-early Xtend soybean with 000.5 RM (2175CHU). It has excellent yield potential coupled with cyst nematode resistance and double stacked PRR (phytophthora) genes. It’s a slender plant that stands well and prefers narrow rows.

TH 87003 R2X is an Xtend soybean with 00.3 RM (2375 CHU). It’s a tall, aggressive and impressive variety. It has excellent yields and performs consistently across all zones and soil types. This soybean has a great overall agronomics, including vigour, IDC of 1.7 and SCN tolerance.

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Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) made its grand entrance in the U.S. in the 1950s, and since then has become soybean producers’ top pest, causing significant yield losses annually. In Canada, it has spread through Ontario and Quebec. Though it has not yet been detected in the Prairies, its arrival is impending.

But research is catching up to the miniature pests and offering hope for new, novel controls. Melissa Mitchum, an associate plant science professor at Missouri University, has discovered a mechanism by which cyst nematodes are able to feed on plants.

Over 10 years ago, Mitchum’s team discovered that these cyst nematodes produce and secrete “plant peptide mimics,” small molecules that look like and function like peptides, which provide chemical signals within the plant. In brief, the nematode finds a root and injects it with a chemical cocktail designed to look like the plant’s own chemical signals, and the plant is “tricked” into feeding the pest a steady stream of nutrients.

Recently, Mitchum proved that nematodes feed on cells near the plant’s vascular tissue. By using these “chemical mimics,” nematodes tap into a plant’s vascular stem cell pathway to form feeding cells that will last them the full 30 days of their life cycle.

“These parasites have been co-evolving with host plants for a long time. They’re highly adapted,” says Mitchum. “If we can identify the molecules and then mechanisms to block that process so the nematode can’t form feeding cells, we can create a novel form of resistance. If you shut down the feeding cell the nematode can’t survive.”

Mitchum’s project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, aims to understand how plant peptides function.

Her lab has proven the mechanism in the model plant arabidopsis, as well as in soybean and potato; the next step is developing plants that are resistant to the nematode’s influence.

“In soybean we have the advantage because we can do peri-root transformation — we can make transgenic soybean roots for testing,” she says. “We’ve done that as a proof of concept. If we see promise we can move this to whole soybean transformation.”

But there’s a challenge to overcome: if breeders block the mechanism nematodes use to help themselves to plant nutrients, they might also block the plant from feeding itself.

Mitchum’s team has rich resources to do this in the form of new, precise gene editing technologies like CRISPR-Cas9, which can help them modify plants to resist nematodes without compromising growth.

It might take five to 10 years to develop new resistant soybean varieties. Mitchum’s team is in the market for an industry partner to make commercialization possible.

Like other pest controls, “this is not going to be a silver bullet,” Mitchum warns. “What we need is to have a diverse set of tools that we can use to try to keep the populations in the field below an economic threshold.

“We need to come together and develop different strategies.” GN

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When sudden death syndrome hits Manitoba, farmers might be looking for Bayer’s new ILeVO seed treatment fungicide. This product is a Group 7 fungicide with the active ingredient fluopyram. ILeVO is registered across the country.

• Read more: Soybean cyst nematodes on the Prairies?

Sudden death syndrome (SDS) often occurs along with soybean cyst nematode. For farmers with both, yield results can be devastating.

Symptoms of SDS are not visible until the soybean plant is above the soil. The first signs you’ll notice are mottled and mosaiced leaves. Then, yellowing of the leaf veins and death of the whole leaf. In severe cases, the leaflet will drop right off. Because SDS can be confused with other problems, it’s difficult to identify, and often misdiagnosed.

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“Soybean cyst nematode moves with soil, any method by which you can move soil, you can move it,” says Tenuta. From equipment moving to migratory birds to wind erosion, if the soil moves, the cyst nematode moves.

Soybean cyst nematode, says Tenuta, can be managed, but growers need to be on the lookout for unexplained significant yield losses “that can’t be blamed on any one thing” prior to it being detected in the soil, as the pathogen can be present for many years prior to detection.

If you fear cyst nematode could be an issue, look at your fields: is there waviness, a lack of levelness across the field? This could be caused by a number of other issues, like nutrient deficiency, unbalanced PH levels, and more, so it is important, says Tenuta, to determine the cause. “One of the most important things is to dig up those plants and examine the roots. Look for the cysts on the roots, they can be seen easily with your eyes.”

Early detection is key because “the lower the population, the easier it is to manage.” Untreated, the cyst nematode will gain traction. Prairie growers are in a good position, says Tenuta, because while it is a “matter of when not if” the disease will spread to soybean producing provinces, it hasn’t yet been found yet in the West.

Coming to your field soon

Albert’s brother, Mario Tenuta, is a Professor of Applied Soil Ecology at the University of Manitoba. He says, “soybean cyst nematode is present in several counties across the Manitoba/North Dakota Border. It is very clear that soybean cyst nematode will eventually be found in Manitoba. The pest will be introduced to Manitoba by floodwater, wind, birds and/or soil on machinery and vehicles. With a longer history of soybean cultivation in Manitoba, the pest will then build to levels detectable in surveys and/or causing visible disease symptoms.”

Being proactive is important, says Albert Tenuta. When it is found in the Prairies, growers will have the advantage of cyst nematode resistant varieties of seed, which Ontario growers didn’t have 25 years ago. “The cornerstone of effective cyst nematode management begins with resistant varieties,” says Albert Tenuta. “Those will help limit the amount of reproduction on the roots.”

You can’t overuse a particular variety, though, because no variety is 100 per cent effective against the disease. Rotation is also key. Prairie producers have the advantage here, says Albert Tenuta, because they have many different crops in their rotations than Ontario growers. (Some pulses can be hosts for cyst nematode, so be careful with those.) There are also some new seed treatment nematicides coming out which will “help suppress the reproduction on the roots on our resistant varieties.”

The first fields to see soybean cyst nematode will likely have lower populations and won’t see a significant yield hit, says Albert Tenuta.

Interestingly, the most common symptom of the disease is no aboveground symptoms at all, says Albert Tenuta, so growers along the North Dakota border and the Red River Valley — places more susceptible due to proximity to the disease — need “to be digging plants up every year and examining the roots. By the time you start seeing the visual symptoms — stunted plants, yellowing of those plants, a lot of weed escapees — in many cases growers are looking at a 20 to 30 per cent yield reduction.” Fungicides won’t do anything for cyst nematodes, says Albert Tenuta, but there will likely be more nematicides coming out down the line. One of the most important things to know is that “once cyst nematode is present, you’re not going to eliminate it, it’s a matter of managing it and managing it well.”

Albert Tenuta says he wishes Ontario had the management tools available today 25 years ago when cyst nematode was making inroads in that province’s soybean crops. If Prairie productions are vigilant, they can avoid the 50 to 70 per cent crop reduction that Ontario crops suffered from in the early days.

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Bayer on Monday launched a new soybean seed treatment dubbed ILeVO, a suspension containing its Group 7 fungicide fluopyram at a rate of 600 grams per litre. ILeVO will be the first soybean seed treatment registered for use against SDS in Canada, the company said.

Registered in Canada for control of early-season infection by Fusarium virguliforme, the fungal pathogen that causes SDS, ILeVO is approved for use in commercial seed treatment plants and mobile treater systems, for closed transfer and closed treatment equipment only.

Bayer has had fluopyram in its roster since 2014, when the chemical picked up conditional registration as an active ingredient in fungicides Propulse, Luna Tranquility and Luna Privilege. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) granted fluopyram full registration in May this year.

First seen in soybeans in Arkansas in 1971, the SDS pathogen has since been confirmed in most soybean-growing areas of the U.S., and in Ontario, according to the American Phytopathological Society.

F. virguliforme overwinters on crop residue and is now occurring “more frequently” in fields across Ontario, Bayer said Monday. The disease results in average annual yield loss of about 20 per cent, but can cause losses of up to 60 per cent in a growing season, Bayer added.

The company noted the disease has proven difficult to identify and is often misdiagnosed. It’s typically not detectable on the foliage of plants until after the beginning of flowering, according to the APS.

The disease often, but not always, occurs in a disease complex with soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the APS said. When it occurs in the presence of SCN, disease symptoms occur earlier and are more severe.

“With the increased cases of SDS in Ontario putting pressure on growers, it’s important to have tools ready to help protect their fields,” Albert Tenuta, field crop pathologist for Ontario’s agriculture ministry (OMAFRA), was quoted as saying in Bayer’s release Monday.

“Growers are continuing to plant in earlier, wetter conditions and reducing the risk of infection at planting will help maximize yields.”

According to OMAFRA, the pathogen prefers cool, moist soil conditions. Well-fertilized or “vigorously growing” fields are most likely to show SDS symptoms.

Crop rotation with corn and cereals can also cut the incidence of SDS, OMAFRA added, noting the disease occurs most often on reduced-tillage fields. Incorporating or removing infested residue may also cut the risk of SDS.

ILeVO’s efficacy has been shown in field trials in both the U.S. and Canada over the past five years, including third-party trials with OMAFRA and the University of Guelph, Bayer said.

ILeVO, the company said, also includes a feature that signals a successful application: a “halo effect,” often visible on the edges of the cotyledons of a treated plant. — AGCanada.com Network

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