This Week at the Farm (June 22, 2015)

June is a busy month here at the farm and this week we were busy preparing for the Lygus caging study. On Thursday, our team worked hard to get 24 caging tents up on the test plots for future Lygus storage.

It is important that the tents go up before the canola begins to bolt.   There are two cages per plot and three plots per replicate with four replicates -- one tent is an untreated control while the other cage will be treated with 20 live Lygus adults.  The objectives of this study are to compare Lygus feeding damage from bolting to harvest when the Lygus are allowed to feed and reproduce on either Westar an InVigor or a RoundUp Ready cultivar.

Once the cages are up, we then mass collect Lygus adults and they need to be sorted by species and sex in order to ensure that 10 males plus 10 females of the same species are introduced into the treated cages.  We also have to empty the cages prior to adding our test subjects.  In each plot, there are two cages: one cage receives 20 lygus adults while the other will be maintained insect-free for the rest of the growing season.

At harvest, our Staff then collects all the arthropods inside each cage - we do it by vacuuming!  We use vacuums and fabric to bundle the retrieved insect samples then we freeze everything so we can can sort it later.  In the Fall, each sample is processed to determine the species and instar stages of the recovered Lygus.  We also hand-harvest all the canola plants inside each cage so we can determine the yield and quality.  We then compare our harvest data to the recovered insect densities and stages.  We are most keen to examine the impact of the Lygus feeding on Westar but to also compare that data to the newer InVigor and RoundUp Ready cultivars.

Jadin

This Week at the Farm (June 12, 2015)

June is cutworm month and cutworm scouting is crucial at this time of the year.

Cutworms include several species of noctuids that feed on a broad range of host plants but they are not worms!  Cutworms are the larval stage of several species of economically important noctuids that can cause damage in prairie-grown crops including canola, mustard, wheat barley, triticale, peas, alfalfa, clover, timothy and several fescue species.  Some cutworm species prefer broadleaf to grass- or cereal-type host plants but some will consume whatever plant is available.

Cutworms overwinter as eggs and larvae so damage will occur in field crops from April until August, depending on the species.

Larvae feed by shredding or clipping leaves or stems of growing plants so seedlings can be highly susceptible.  Cutworm damage is characterized by missing seed rows or bare batches where plants have been consumed beneath the soil surface.  Wilted, drying or brown vegetation can indicate larval feeding occurring below the soil surface or within the crown of a plant.

This cutworm larva was found curled  up in the soil near the crown of a timothy plant near Falher, AB

One of the four objectives of the CARP Cutworm project is to document the species diversity and distribution of cutworms causing damage in our commercial fields.  For our lab, this includes collecting live larvae and rearing them.

These cutworms were collected in canola in a field near Peoria, AB

Cutworm larvae are hand-collected by IPM staff or by producers.  Once they arrive at our laboratory, each specimen is assigned an ID number in order to track their development.

Rearing then involves measuring, feeding, and changing each larva every 2-3 days.  Each larva is housed inside a plastic container (1oz) prepared with filter paper to regulate moisture in the container.  Every 2-3 days, each larva is provided with a prepared media containing antibiotics and nutrients specific to their needs.

This GIF shows a cutworm collected from wheat near Falher, AB feeding on a piece of media.

Each larva is photographed and measured as they develop.  This generates an image library that we will use to develop a tech-transfer document intended to help identify species of cutworm at different growth stages.

More information on the CARP Cutworm Project can be found here

More information on cutworm monitoring can be found here

Albertans can use the 2015 cutworm reporting tool to help us identify cutworm infestations which updates a live map.

-Shelby

Agronomy may never be the same!

This week, the Agronomy & Crop Adaptation Program's two Student Assistants received some special training!  After learning and helping with seeding, Emma and Carina were instructed on how to operate one of the ConservaPak seeders.  They began with some pathway seeding yesterday!

Training like this is important and it's given according to the skill and maturity of a Staff member.  Research plots seeders like the ConservaPak are major capital investments made within AAFC that have 10-30 years of research use.   The operation and use of these major pieces of equipment are critical to the research we perform BUT they don't move without properly trained operators who possess the technical skills and experience to capably drive them.

Carina and Emma aren't quite ready to seed our field research plots yet - but then again, they are learning and gaining experience to help get them there someday!

Congratulations on a pretty big step in your agronomic careers Carina and Emma!

Canola Scouting Guide

Field scouting is critical because it enables the identification of potential risks to crops. Canola production systems across the Canadian prairies will suffer insect pest outbreaks. However, the identification of these insect pests PLUS the application of established monitoring methods will enable growers to make informed pest management decisions.

This year we offer a generalized canola scouting chart to aid in-field scouting on the Canadian prairies. This guide contains hyperlinks to help growers learn more about some of our insect pests and how to monitor.

Whenever possible, monitor and compare to established economic thresholds so pollinators and beneficial arthropods are preserved.  Economic thresholds, by definition, can help growers avoid crop losses due to an insect pest.

Good luck with the growing season!

This, along with many other resources, can also be accessed at the Prairie Pest Monitoring blog.

June is Cutworm month!

We have ~143 cutworms and the majority came from the Guy/Falher area between Jun 3-5, 2015.  About 65% of the material we are shipping to AAFC-Saskatoon where we’ve requested they try to include them in future multiplex PCR or CO1 barcoding to identify the species x  host crop associations. 

Anyone seeding an annual into 2014 legume stubble should be carefully scouting for cutworms if they’re anywhere East of Wanham.  The absence of precipitation but warm temperatures mean that cutworm damage is showing up quite suddenly where other years moisture helps the plants grow quickly and tolerate cutworm feeding

Please report Albertan cutworm sites! 

Every entry is important because it helps us all estimate how much of a problem we have now and into 2016.  Once data entry occurs, your growers can be checking the live cutworm map located here.

2015 Field Tour Events at Beaverlodge

The Farm is scheduled for the following events during the 2015 growing season but please follow the links to register:

June 25, 2015 - PEACEpalooza

July 7, 2015 - Peace Region Forage Seed Association Annual Field Tour

July 15-16, 2015 - County of Grande Prairie hosts the 2015 Provincial ASB Tour which will include a tour of the IPM, Apiculture, Forage Seed Production and Agronomy & Crop Adaptation Programs at our Farm.

2015 Prairie Pest Monitoring Network's Weekly Updates

The Weekly Updates for the 2015 growing season are now being compiled.  Each week, growing conditions, pest updates and scouting tips are summarized into a single place to enable in-field scouting of our economically important field crop pests.  Access the Weekly Updates by linking here or view them on the Prairie Pest Monitoring Blog.

This Week at the Farm (June 3, 2015)

Grasshopper scouting is starting in the Peace region. Most grasshoppers overwinter as eggs laid in the soil and emerge in the spring as tiny nymphs. This week, we're seeing small nymphs measuring ~4mm long that will quickly grow as they feed.

Grasshopper nymph in our CARP flea beetle field plot study this morning (June 3)

While our lab doesn't have grasshopper research projects underway, we do keep an eye on their numbers both in our field plots plus we collect from our region to verify predictive models developed by Dr. Owen Olfert's lab based at AAFC-Saskatoon. For example, while scouting new monitoring sites near Guy AB, we collected some very early instar grasshopper nymphs that will be sent to Saskatoon.

Grasshopper nymph collected near Guy AB (May 21)

Correct identification of grasshoppers is critical to making management decisions and growers need to understand there are several species of grasshoppers in our region that do NOT cause economic damage. Species that can cause economic levels of damage include: the migratory grasshopper (Melanoplus sanguipes), two striped grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus), Packard's grasshopper (Melanoplus packardii), and the clearwing grasshopper (Camnula pellucida).  All four species will feed on weeds as well as field crop plants.  Migratory, clearwing and Packard's grasshoppers will feed on both broadleaf and grassy plants.

For more information on grasshoppers visit:
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development
Saskatchewan Agriculture
Manitoba Agriculture and Rural Initiatives

In-crop field management

Every grower likes to look at machinery and our technicians are no different!  The Agronomy Program was able to acquire this new high-clearance sprayer to support ongoing and new research here at the Farm.  The booms fold and are retractable to allow for applications to variable widths of research plots but it's also more efficient in how it uses water and in the accuracy of application of the various pesticides that are part of normal field crop production here on the prairies.  Equipment like this is moving our field research forward.

This Week at the Farm (June 1, 2015)

Hi, my name is Andras and I'm the final summer Co-op student, from UBC, to arrive at the IPM Program here at Beaverlodge.  I got off to a bit of a late start and had catching up to do given all the studies the IPM program runs.

The first study I worked on was the Red Clover Casebearer Parasitoid Rearing study. The purpose of this study is to build our knowledge of the species that are parasitoids of the red clover casebearer moth. We check the collected casebearer pupae daily for emerged parasitoids, moths, and diseased larvae, and emerged moths or wasps are promptly recorded and the specimens preserved for future analysis.  A preserved parasitoid wasp can be seen in the image below:  



The next assignment was the IPM program's contribution to the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network.  Traps specifically targeting flea beetles and diamondback moths were set up at sites in the region to acquire data on insect pest population levels.  By collecting the traps weekly, and immediately analyzing them for the species of interest, changes in the insect populations are closely monitored and that information is used to support growers' pest management strategies.

But in the coming weeks, even more studies will pick up again for the summer; just to name a few:

• Lygus Caging Study - determining whether established economic thresholds for Lygus are applicable on newer hybrid canola varieties
• Annual Canola Surveys - early-mid flowering stage sweep-net surveys to obtain information on regional insect biodiversity, population levels of all pests, and to monitor for cabbage seedpod weevil range expansion from the south
• Lygus Parasitoid Study - obtaining a better understanding of the insect species that parasitize nymph and adult Lygus bugs, the parasitoid species diversity, and the rate of parasitization

It is not surprising that there is so much to learn given the scope of the IPM program's studies, but the other co-op students and staff have been very helpful and supportive in my first week so far. We're going to do some great work this summer.