End of Summer Goodbyes

 

I always find my way back to the Beaverlodge Insect Pest Management (IPM) lab with four summers and one winter under my belt. It is bittersweet to have this summer conclude so fast after working consecutively in the IPM lab for close to a year and a half, but I will be returning to school in the fall to pursue a second degree in sustainable agriculture. I keep coming back because I enjoy the mix of field and lab work. Every year, there is always something new for me to learn and challenge myself with. As a bonus, the IPM staff are also wonderful people to work with, which makes the time fly!

Figure 1. Sweeping the BC Peace on a sunny day makes for the best day!

As always, our annual canola survey was one of my favourite memories from this summer this year. The week was filled with beautiful weather and fieldwork everyday, completing grasshopper density assessment counts, canola and grasshopper sweeps, and stubble assessments at multiple canola sites throughout the Peace River region. A special thanks to all of the farmers who allowed us to monitor their fields which allowed us to have a successful survey.

During canola survey, I enjoyed picking up a fresh (delicious) cinnamon bun from Eaglesham as well as a lunch break in Valhalla! The food stops make for a good day of surveying. This summer I volunteered to make us team t-shirts for the canola survey (maybe regretfully at t-shirt 3/8). Thanks to Shelby’s amazingly creative mind in coming up with a logo we were able to make what I would argue, are some pretty styling t-shirts. Our pin-flag pink shirts worked great for spotting and identifying us in the canola fields! Visibility keeps us safe while we are out conducting fieldwork.

Figure 2. Our IPM team this year, sporting our safety-pink Hulk lygus shirts. The shirt says, “you’re not going to lygus when were angry,” and a lygus insect depicted holding a sweep net.

I also enjoyed completing weekly canola monitoring for our Prairie Pest Monitoring Network. I always love watching how quickly the canola starts to grow once it bolts and being able to follow the same fields over the whole growing season. Following the same fields allows us to see different fluctuations in insect populations and biodiversity over each week and between geographic areas.

Figure 3. Completing our weekly PPMN canola monitoring; collecting a yellow flea beetle sticky card.

It was interesting to participate and assist in building data for the 2023 Living Lab AB-Beef project as well. I have been lucky enough to work with my father and our family farm in retrieving precision agriculture data for this project. It was a good challenge (and treasure hunt) for me to figure out how to compile 10 years of data into an accessible format, as well as educate myself more on precision agriculture and its ever-changing goals. I am excited to see how it develop over the next 5 years and the outputs farmers will receive.

Figure 4.  An alfalfa looper on a budding canola plant near Valhalla Centre during our 2023 Canola Survey.

I am always and forever grateful for the opportunities and growth I have had at the IPM lab in Beaverlodge. As someone told me years ago: you can't come back if you never leave! 'Till next time!

Author: Aarika Harpe