Alberta farm express

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STILL NO ZEBRAS — OR QUAGGAS — IN ALBERTA But just one boat contaminated with invasive mussels could spell disaster » PG 2 Publications Mail Agreement # 40069240

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Carbon credit program ain’t what it used to be A rising carbon tax should put more money in farmers’ pockets, but participation rates have gone down BY JEFF MELCHIOR AF contributor

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reenhouse gases were on the minds of many Alberta farmers a decade ago when no till offered good cash from selling carbon offset credits. Fast-forward to 2017 and things have changed. Although there is still a lot of participation in the province’s carbon credit trading and sequestration program, many believe it has become too demanding, too restrictive, and less beneficial to

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Imagine you couldn’t grow FALL-APPLY canola, warns farm leader YOUR SPRING WEED CONTROL Clubroot’s arrival in the Peace isn’t a shocker, but it’s another sign farmers are flirting with disaster, say canola experts BY JENNIFER BLAIR AF staff / Lacombe

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n the war between canola producers and clubroot, clubroot is winning. “The clubroot-infested area is spreading at roughly about 30 kilometres a year, and we’re only managing it at 20 kilometres a year,” said Dan Orchard, agronomy specialist for the Canola Council of Canada. “We got an appreciation this year for just how fast it can spread. We’re way behind it — chasing it out rather than choking it in.” Clubroot was first discovered in central Alberta in 2003, and since then has spread to more than 1,000 fields in over 30 counties. Last month, it was discovered for the first time in the Peace region (in Big Lakes County). Canola industry officials are still trying to trace how the disease moved into the area, as well as which strain of clubroot it is. But for Sexsmith-area producer Greg Sears, that rapid spread is a wake-up call. “Anything as ominous as clubroot is worrying when it’s spreading at any rate — but certainly, it’s covering a lot of ground quickly, and it doesn’t give us a lot of time to look at our practices and make the changes we need to,” said Sears, chair of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission. Even so, Sears calls clubroot’s spread north “inevitable.” “There’s nothing magical about our soils that would prevent clubroot from migrating here,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that

Yield benefits from early weed removal Up to 8 weeks extended control Effective residual activity re-ignites with moisture Hassle-free sprayer application it’s been identified, but I think it was inevi- as a cash crop by changing their manageIf you’re growing non-resistant canola varieties, you could wake up one day to find ‘astronomical’ levels of clubroot spores, says agronomist Dan Orchard.  PHOTO: Jennifer Blair

table.” That’s partially because “there’s a certain level of denial” about clubroot, especially in areas that haven’t been affected by the disease in the past. “There are a lot of crossed fingers that clubroot isn’t going to make it into the area,” said Sears. But crossed fingers aren’t enough to slow the spread of the disease, and many producers don’t want to risk losing canola

ment practices or extending their rotations. “Canola-cereal rotations have become a very desirable rotation,” said Sears. “Canola works well on people’s operations. It’s a great crop to grow, both from a revenue standpoint and with the herbicide options for cleaning up land. “It’s pretty hard to give that up.”

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