Meet our students (2018) - Introducing Rebecca!

Hello! My name is Rebecca Philip and I have been working at AAFC-Beaverlodge since September 2017.  From September to the end of December 2017, I was working in the Pulse Breeding program based out of AAFC-Lacombe where I was responsible for carrying out cross pollination of pea flowers in an effort to develop new varieties of field peas.  I am excited to switch to the Insect Pest Management program and to learn about insect pests and some of the natural enemies found within field crops grown in the Peace River region.

I am currently enrolled in the  third year of the Natural Resource Science program at Thompson Rivers University, which is located in Kamloops BC. I have a strong love for the outdoors and working outside and I am lucky to have a job and a program that reflect this! Although I come from BC, this is not my first time living in Alberta. Most of my childhood was spent just north of Edmonton in the small town of Bon Accord.

So far, the first weeks in the IPM program have been focused on data entry for the 2017 CARP Flea Beetle project but I’ve also been processing wheat midge from samples collected during the growing season. We are retrieving wheat midge larvae from wheat heads threshed using a single-head thresher.  The data will quantify the density of wheat midge occurring in local wheat fields. In the near future, I will work on the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network’s Blog to archive and update information in preparation for the 2018 growing season.

Figure 1. Rebecca pinning and labelling carabid beetles.

2017 Peace Canola Survey - Otani, Vankosky, Olfert

The 2017 Annual Peace Canola Survey was completed by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada staff based at Beaverlodge and Saskatoon.

Since 2003, the annual survey has been performed with the main objectives of (i) collecting insect pest data throughout the region and (ii) to detect the introduction of the cabbage seedpod weevil into the Peace River region.  In 2017, a total of 102 commercial fields of Brassica napus (e.g., each field ≥80 acres in size) were surveyed and no B. rapa was encountered.  

Fields were surveyed by sweep-net using 50 - 180° sweeps on the following dates in these areas:
• July 4 near Manning, Hawk Hills, Tompkins Landing, Blue Hills, Buffalo Head, LaCrete, Rocky Lane.
• July 10 near Crooked Creek, DeBolt, Bezanson, Grande Prairie.
• July 11 near Guy, High Prairie, McLennan, Falher, Nampa, Peace River, Tangent, Watino, Smoky River, LaGlace, Woking, Spirit River, Rycroft, Fairview, Hines Creek, Sexsmith.
• July 12 near Whitelaw, Berwyn, Grimshaw, Marie Reine, Jean Cote, Girouxville, Eaglesham, Wanham, Peoria, Teepee Creek, Hythe, Baldonnel, Montney, Rose Prairie, Fort St. John, Cecil Lake, Doe River, Rolla, Valhalla, Demmitt, LaGlace, Grande Prairie, Goodfare, Elmworth, Blueberry Mountain, Silver Valley, Bonanza.

Sweep-net samples were frozen then processed to generate data for a total of 9730 arthropods (excluding thrips and aphids) which were identified and categorized into 39 taxa.  The 2017 summary includes eight economically important insect pests reported from 98 surveyed canola fields plus data related to rotational practices in the Peace River region:

The 2017 summary is available as a downloadable PDF file.

THANK YOU to the following hard working AAFC staff who surveyed†, processed‡, and mapped∞ this data:  Jadin Chahade1†‡, Kaitlin Freeman1†‡, Holly Spence1†‡, Rebecca Wu1†‡, Charlotte Morrison1†‡, Cameron McGlade-Bouchard1†‡, Shelby Dufton1‡, Amanda Jorgensen1‡, and David Giffen2∞.

Finally, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, Thank you to our canola producers for allowing us to sample in their fields!

2016 Peace Canola Survey - Summary is available now!

The 2016 Annual Peace Canola Survey was completed by Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada staff based at Beaverlodge and Saskatoon.

Since 2003, the annual survey has been performed with the main objectives of (i) collecting insect pest data throughout the region and (ii) to detect the introduction of the cabbage seedpod weevil into the Peace River region.  In 2016, a total of 156 commercial fields of Brassica napus (e.g., each field ≥80 acres in size) were surveyed and no B. rapa was encountered.

Fields were surveyed by sweep-net using 50 - 180° sweeps on the following dates in these areas:
• July 5 near Whitelaw, Berwyn, Grimshaw, Dixonville, Manning, Hotchkiss, Hawk Hills, Notikewin, Blue Hills, Buffalo Head, La Crete.
• July 6 near Fort Vermilion, Blumenort, Valhalla, La Glace, Westmark, Woking, Spirit River, Blueberry Mountain, Silver Valley, Bonanza, Bay Tree, Beaverlodge, Halcourt, Wembley, Grande Prairie, Clairmont, Sexsmith, Teepee Creek, Bezanson, Dimsdale, Huallen, Fairview, Vanrena, Hines, Creek, Worsley, Eureka River,
• July 7 near Rycroft, Webster, Hythe, Wanham, Girouxville, Watino, Eaglesham, Belloy, Dawson Creek, Rolla, Dow River, Clayhurst, Cecil Lake, Fort St. John, Farmington, Valleyview, Guy, Falher, Reno, Nampa, Peace River, Marie-Reine, McLennan, Whitemud Creek.

Sweep-net samples were frozen then processed to generate data for a total of 21,278 arthropods which were identified and categorized into 38 taxa. The 2016 summary includes 15 economically important pests of canola reported from 156 surveyed canola fields plus data related to rotational practises in the Peace River region.

The 2016 summary is available as a downloadable PDF file.

THANK YOU to the following hard working AAFC staff who surveyed†, processed‡, and mapped∞ this data: Jadin Chahade1†‡, Kaitlin Freeman1†‡, Holly Spence1†‡, Hannah Avenant1†‡, Laura Stewart1†‡, Celine Coschizza1†‡, Emily Lemke1†‡, Owen Olfert2†∞, Taylor Kaye2†∞, Shelby Dufton1‡, and Amanda Jorgensen1‡.


Finally, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, Thank you to our canola producers for allowing us to sample in their fields!

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.

This Week at the Farm, (May 22, 2015)

Now is the time when flea beetle monitoring is very important to canola producers!  

Flea beetles are important to canola production because they are an economic pest typically emerging from overwintering in the spring which begins to feed on the cotyledons of the canola seedling. Their feeding activity results in characteristic shot-hole damage.  More recently, striped flea beetles have been observed to girdle seedlings which immediately kills the plant.

Flea beetles reproduce in the spring and lay eggs near the stem of cruciferous plants.  Larvae will feed upon the canola root system but it is the adult or beetle which causes economic damage so in-field monitoring and the application of an action threshold of >25% cotyledon leaf area consumed is critical.

We monitor flea beetles to ascertain when they move into canola fields, to obtain a general estimate of the population densities active in specific fields, and to examine proportions of striped, crucifer, and hops flea beetles along with the lesser-known species that can also occur in our fields.  Flea beetles are approximately 2-3 mm long and are usually black, brown, metallic blue or purple and may have yellow stripes on their elytra (i.e., hardened forewings). 

Since 2001, our lab has monitored the density and species diversity of flea beetles found in commercial canola fields.  Below are photos depicting how we collect flea beetles using yellow sticky trap cards, and what they look like when we process the trap cards by examining them under a stereomicroscope.

Flea beetle trap out in the field ready to be collected. The black spots on the card are flea beetles (each 2-3mm long).

One flea beetle (Phyllotreta Striolata) stuck to the trap viewed using our stereomicroscope.

Two flea beetles (Crepidodera spp.) stuck to the trap viewed using our stereomicroscope.

For more information on flea beetles you can follow this link to our  flea beetle protocol .

-Kaitlin

This Week at the Farm (May 8, 2015)

First Traps of the 2015 Season!  This week, the IPM Program at Beaverlodge was again busy in the field setting up and collecting our insect pest monitoring traps.  At this time of the year, Flea Beetle and Diamondback Moth monitoring is important.

In this photo, Kaitlin sets up the first Diamondback Moth and Flea Beetle traps of the 2015 season which will be monitored weekly near Beaverlodge AB. Yellow sticky card traps will reveal the species diversity and relative numbers of flea beetles in canola fields whereas Diamondback Moth pheromone traps will detect the initial arrival of moths to canola fields.

Jadin Chahade