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No short-term fusarium fix
Truck special
Report from the Durum Summit 14
Scott Garvey covers the newest trucks 29
Volume 44 · number 05 fEBRUARY 20, 2018 · $4.25 Practical production tips for the prairie farmer www.grainews.ca
By Melanie Epp
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Pest management
Patience pays with bertha armyworm
Photo: Justine Cornelsen, Canola Council of Canada
Experts recommend holding the spray until you scout, and counting beneficial bugs
When conditions are right, bertha armyworm damage can happen quickly.
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ate last summer, a canola field heavily infested with bertha armyworm in western Manitoba created a lot of fuss on Twitter, proving, yet again, just how localized population spikes can be in some areas. While sudden population spikes can cause panic, experts recommend that growers only take measures after they’ve got a good handle on what’s in the field. That means scouting and looking for beneficial insects to see if fields have reached economic thresholds. Justine Cornelsen, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, and John Gavloski, entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture, explain. Bertha armyworm is one of the most significant canola pests in Western Canada. It likes to feed on nectar, so it is particularly problematic during the crop’s flowering stage. Adult moths emerge from overwintering pupae in mid-June; emergence continues until late July. There is only one generation of bertha armyworm per year. Within five days of emergence adult moths will begin to mate, laying their eggs on the undersides of canola leaves. Typically, the eggs will hatch within a week. Larvae will drop off the plants, making them difficult to locate during scouting. It takes about six weeks for them to completely develop. During that time they will pass through six growth stages. Making matters more difficult, bertha armyworm larvae look distinctly different in several of those stages. See armyworm on page 5
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What does ‘farmwife’ mean? For Sarah Schultz it’s not a loaded term, but an identity 40 CONTENTS 3 | COLUMNS 21 | CATTLEMEN’S CORNER 34