Ready. Set. Go!
Things are heating up in the Peace River region and the canola is blooming! As a result, we are about to hit the fields to sample canola for our survey! You’ve learned about the insect pests we've targeted (1,2), where we go (3,4), and how we survey (5) – but what happens in the field and what other information do we collect?
Typically, we survey in teams of two, with one person serving as both driver and sweep-net sampler (Fig. 1a) and the other taking notes, preparing supplies, and collecting field information (Fig. 1b). Once we arrive at the field, the driver gets out, dons rubber boots and Tyvek booties, and enters the field to sweep-net sample. The sweep sample is collected in a large arc from the field edge out into the field and back. Ten sweeps are collected in each of five sets (for a total of 50 sweeps), spaced every 10 paces to cover multiple locations throughout the field. Samples are then bagged, examined briefly for any abnormal insects or insect densities, and then placed in a cooler on ice.
Figure 1a. Co-op student, Becky Philip, sweeps a canola field near Ft. Vermilion, AB for the 2018 Beaverlodge Research Farm Annual Canola Survey. 1b. Program supervisor, Jennifer Otani, diligently takes notes for the 2008 Beaverlodge Research Farm Canola Survey.
The passenger exits the vehicle and completes our biosecurity protocol, including vehicle sanitization. Once finished, they conduct growth ratings and identify stubble type (Fig. 2a-d). Staff are trained to detect differences in stubble such as branching white canola stubble, thin curls of pea stubble, or hunting for a wheat or barley head. Why do this? Field stubble can tell us a lot about a field! For the past 20 years, stubble assessments have provided valuable information about crop rotations used by grower-producers in the Peace River region. It can also help explain why certain insects are appearing in higher numbers.
During my first year (2014) as a co-op student with the Beaverlodge Insect Pest Management (IPM) program, we found a parasitoid wasp, Macroglenes penetrans (Fig. 3), numbering in the thousands in some survey samples. This parasitoid preys on an economic pest of wheat, wheat midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana). Stubble type helped us to identify that M. penetrans were emerging in canola fields (2014) seeded to wheat the year prior (2013) and then moving to neighboring wheat fields. Discoveries like this help to show how spraying insecticides in canola can potentially negatively affect natural enemies for pests in other crops as well.
Figure 3. Macroglenes penetrans wasp. Photo credit: Shelby Dufton-AAFC Beaverlodge
Canola survey has, and continues to be, my favorite part of the field season for our group! 2023 will be my 10th year conducting the survey and I can’t wait for many more. I would like to say a huge thank you to all the producers willing allowing us to survey on their land this year! And I would like to say a big thank you to all our IPM staff this year and in the past 20 years for helping to make this incredible data set a possibility. Check out the video below to see some of the incredible Beaverlodge IPM staff and collaborators in action over TWENTY YEARS OF SURVEY!