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.