Friday 16 August 2024

BC Peace Professional Agrologist Tour August 16, 2024

Here's a list of items and links mentioned by Jennifer at today's field tour: 

INSECT MONITORING IN FIELD CROPS

FIELD GUIDES

  • Alberta Forage Manual (2009; Ag-Dex120/20-1; ISBN 0-7732-6082-X; pdf in English). Includes Forage Insects and Natural Enemies of Forage Pest Insects chapters. 
  • Arthropods of legume forage crops (2011; ISBN 978-0-9689321-5-5; pdf in English). 
  • Cutworm field guide (2017; ISBN 978-0-660-08051-2; pdf in Englishpdf en français). 
  • Field crop and forage insect pests and natural enemies in western Canada (ISBN 978-1-100-25768-6; pdf in Englishpdf en français). 
  • Guide to pest wireworms in Canadian prairie field crop production (ISBN 978-0-660-39114-4; pdf in Englishpdf en français).

PRAIRIE-WIDE NETWORKS

INSECT PEST MONITORING PROGRAM AT AAFC-BEAVERLODGE



Tuesday 30 July 2024

North Peace Applied Research Association Annual Field Tour - July 31, 2024

Here's a list of items and links mentioned by Jennifer at today's field tour: 

INSECT MONITORING IN FIELD CROPS

FIELD GUIDES

  • Alberta Forage Manual (2009; Ag-Dex120/20-1; ISBN 0-7732-6082-X; pdf in English). Includes Forage Insects and Natural Enemies of Forage Pest Insects chapters. 
  • Arthropods of legume forage crops (2011; ISBN 978-0-9689321-5-5; pdf in English). 
  • Cutworm field guide (2017; ISBN 978-0-660-08051-2; pdf in Englishpdf en français). 
  • Field crop and forage insect pests and natural enemies in western Canada (ISBN 978-1-100-25768-6; pdf in English, pdf en français). 
  • Guide to pest wireworms in Canadian prairie field crop production (ISBN 978-0-660-39114-4; pdf in English, pdf en français).

PRAIRIE-WIDE NETWORKS

INSECT PEST MONITORING PROGRAM AT AAFC-BEAVERLODGE



Tuesday 9 July 2024

Alberta AgriSystems Living Lab: Peace Region Field Tour - July 10, 2024

 Here's a list of items and links mentioned by Jennifer at today's field tour: 



Monday 8 July 2024

Peace Region Forage Seed Tour - July 9, 2024

Here's a list of items and links mentioned by Jennifer at today's field tour:

Visit by Alberta Pulse Growers Commission - July 9, 2024

 Here's a list of items and links mentioned by Jennifer at today's field tour: 



Monday 3 June 2024

Permission to Access Land by AAFC's Pest Management Staff

As of 2023, Agriculture and Agri--Food Canada requires staff members to obtain signed Permission to Access from landowners. Even if verbal permission is provided, staff members are accompanied, or urgent risk is involved, AAFC staff are still required by managers to first obtain a signed form before entering a field.

Please - we need help from producers across the Peace River region to help collect the vital data that keeps our agricultural region informed and prepared to deal with insect pest risk!  

Please scan the QR code below if you are interested in finding out more about the insect pests in your fields. Technical staff working at AAFC-Beaverlodge in the IPM program (Otani) will then follow-up with you by phone or email to set up Permission to Access forms but also to  describe what research projects your land can contribute towards to help! 



Wednesday 1 May 2024

Field Bio-Sanitation Protocol and Mitigating Transmission of Soil-borne Diseases

Clubroot is a soil-borne disease of canola and other cruciferous plants of the Brassicaceae family which is caused by a pathogen called Plasmodiophora brassicae. Clubroot is spread when infested soil is transported by vehicles and farm machinery or though wind and water erosion. Roots of infected plants have a club-like appearance (Fig. 1). Above-ground symptoms vary depending on the growth stage at time of infection. Common symptoms include wilting, stunting, yellowing, and premature ripening. Above-ground symptoms are similar to common canola disorders thus it is important to carefully dig up suspect plants and inspect the roots.


Figure 1. Characteristic clubroot galls on an infested canola plant. 
Photo: (LL, ND, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The distribution of clubroot in the Peace River region has increased since first appearing in Big Lakes County (August 2017) and now includes additional sites in northwestern Alberta:

Back in 2004, the Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM) implemented biosanitation protocols including use of tyvek booties and sterilization of all field equipment. From 2017-2018, field sanitation involved the use of Virkon and bleach and, since 2019, involved bleach only. As of May 2023, our biosecurity protocol includes:

Figure 2. Washing AAFC vehicle at the commercial to remove soil after a long day of fieldwork. 
Photo: Maddy Jones-AAFC Beaverlodge.


Figure 3. Floor mats are hung and sterilized with bleach while at the commercial car wash. 
Photo: Maddy Jones-AAFC Beaverlodge.


  • Wearing impermeable shoes while operating and exiting vehicle. These shoes are sterilized each day.
  • Sterilizing impermeable boots using bleach both AT and BETWEEN each field (Fig. 4). 
  • Wearing disposable booties are over sterilized impermeable boots prior to entering field or pull-in (Fig. 5).
Figure 4. Impermeable boots are placed into bins containing a bleach solution while traveling between field sites. Photo: Maddy Jones AAFC-Beaverlodge.


Figure 5. Disposable booties are donned over sterilized impermeable boots prior to field entry at each site. 
Photo: Maddy Jones AAFC-Beaverlodge.


  • Parking AAFC vehicles on the side of the road - we NEVER drive into a field!
  • Using sodium hypochlorite or bleach (2%) to sterilize vehicle tires, wheels, and wheel-wells both AT and BETWEEN each field (Fig. 6). 
Figure 6. Wheel-wells and tires are sterilized upon arrival to each field site using a bleach solution. 
Photo: Maddy Jones AAFC-Beaverlodge.

  • Soaking all field equipment that contacts soil (e.g., spades, trowels, soil core samplers) in bleach after use in each field. 
  • Bagging and sterilizing all booties using an autoclave (employs high temperature and pressure).
  • Carrying multiples of small field equipment to allow for soaking in bleach and/or sterilization using an autoclave.
  • Maintaining a log of all visits and all field sanitation protocols implemented.

Please contact us if you have questions or concerns! If you wish to personally see our sanitization efforts in action, we can arrange it! You can contact us by emailing Shelby Dufton.

We thank growers for their continued support of field research by way of granting permission for our staff to access land to collect data. Out staff continue to do our utmost to ensure every field remains protected. 

Post prepared by Madysen Jones