BC Peace Pest Monitoring
904 102 Ave Dawson Creek, BC, Canada

Just some more information to consider this year before seeding if you already haven’t started. Wheat Midge have become a stable pest here in the region with significant damage having been reported across the Prairies here in Canada. These tiny orange mosquito like pests can significantly reduce crops yields or lower grade quality if their populations become significantly high. Wheat Midge tolerant wheat is an option out there for growers in the area. 27 variety blends of wh...eat with midge tolerance, in 6 different classes of wheat are available to use. Midge tolerant wheat is sold as variety blends because 10% of a susceptible variety is mixed in with the midge tolerant variety to reduce the risk of wheat midge developing resistance to the resistant wheat variety. Check out the website Midge tolerant Wheat. Plant. Protect. Preserve https://midgetolerantwheat.ca/ Crop rotation is another alternative to help reduce effects from Wheat Midge populations building up in soils. Canola and Peas carry no risk of damage from Wheat Midge, while Oats and Barley have little risk of damage. For growers using spring wheat varieties, damage from a wheat midge infestation can be minimized by selecting an early maturing variety, increasing the seeding rate to two bushels per acre and seeding as early as possible. Seeding early maturing varieties earlier means the crop may head and flower before peak adult midge populations occur. For more info, check out Manitoba Agriculture, Crop Pest Wheat Midge https://www.gov.mb.ca/agricultu//insects/wheat-midge.html

For anyone who may be concerned with the possibility of Flea Beetle issues in canola this season, here are some helpful suggestions to consider before seeding. Research has shown direct seeding into stubble helps create a micro-climate that is less favourable to Flea Beetles. This little beetle tends to like working on their tan while feeding, with direct sunlight exposure and warm open environments. Also, a recommended 5-8 plants/ft2 seeding density with row spacing of 20-30...cm has shown to decrease damage to plants by Flea Beetles. If you are curious about seeding rates there are many seeding calculators available online. For example, the Canola Council of Canada has one: https://www.canolacouncil.org/calculator/seeding-rate which can help you determine the amount of seed lbs/acre and cost/acre. And while you are on the site check out their information on Flea Beetles: https://www.canolacouncil.org/canola-encycl//flea-beetles/ See more

Hi Everyone, Seeding is just around the corner and here is a friendly reminder that pest forecast maps are becoming available to check out: For Western Canada forecasting checkout the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network: https://prairiepest.ca/ Also check out the Alberta Insect Pest Monitoring Network:... https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-insect-pest-monitoring-netwo Also available is the new 2021 Alberta Crop Protection Guide (Blue Book). Put together this year by Alberta Barley, Alberta Canola, Alberta Pulse Growers, and the Alberta Wheat Commission. Its 15.00 to order a physical copy or free to download a digital copy or get the app. Visit https://www.albertabluebook.com/ to explore the options. See more

Hello everyone, it appears that fall is here with leaves on the ground and crops being combined. I would like to change gears and address some pests that we do not see out in the field but can still affect your crop. They are storage pests and can be found in your grain bins. Left unchecked, can do some serious damage. The Rusty Grain Beetle (Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens)) is tiny reddish-brown insect. Its about 2mm long and quite flat looking; about as thick as two di...mes stacked together. The larvae range from 1-4 mm in length and can be white or slightly yellow in appearance. Both the adults and larvae feed on the germ and endosperm of wheat, barley, rye, oats and sometimes flax (if in heated storage). They are also considered to have one of the highest rates of population growth with females capable of laying 200-500 eggs. The Red Flour Beetle (Tribolium castaneum (Herbst)) is about 4mm in length and reddish in colour, while its larvae can be up to 8mm in length and is white with brown bands. This pest can affect both stored grains and oilseeds. It's not a picky feeder and will feed and other stored products. When disturbed the Flour Beetle releases a noxious secretion resulting in a pungent odor in the infested commodity. This can result in the commodity being unfit for consumption. Saw-toothed Beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.)) is the final insect I will write about, but there are one or two more storage pests. Like the previous two pest it is also brownish in colour and quite small (around 3mm) in length. A big distinguishing feature they have however is 3 little striations on their pronotum (on their upper back). The larvae are also white to pale yellow in colour with a slightly flattened look. It also affects the same crops as the Rusty Grain Beetle but has been known to be able to withstand unheated grain storages. For more information on storage pests and more be sure to visit the Canadian Grain Commission (https://grainscanada.gc.ca/en/grain-quality/manage/ ). See more

This season the pest project was fortunate enough to monitor some horticulture crops for potential pest in both local market gardens and local berry/orchard growers. We were lucky enough to find this female wolf spider in a local growers saskatoon patch. We had to take some pictures as she was nearly the same size as the leaf. About 125 different wolf spider species exist in North America and though many people view them as a pest they do serve a greater purpose for pest control in gardens, patches and crops.

Just a few pics of some beneficial insects we saw throughout the season helping local crops.

Pest Update for the period of August 17 August 27: This will be the last update for the 2020 growing season. Monitoring traps have been pulled from sites throughout the BC Peace. The Projects annual Grasshopper Survey is wrapping along with the Clubroot Survey. Grasshoppers were noted to be in both late Instar Adult stages. Leaf damage that had been noted as slug was confirmed to be as they were found in all annual crops last week. If concerned about Slug damage scouting ...should be done in the evening around 8:30 or just after rain. Bertha Armyworm trap counts were low at the time of pulling the traps, well below 25ind/trap with concern being 300ind/trap or higher. Scouting for late stage diseases like Sclerotinia, Clubroot and Blackleg in Canola and Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) in Wheat is encouraged. Use the BC Peace Agri-Weather FHB Tool beforehand to help determine if you need to scout. Growth Stages using the BBCH Scale were noted for the week as follows: Canola 69-99, Wheat 85-93, and Peas 39- 99. Growing Degree Days (based on a May 15 seeding, Base 5C) provided through the Peace Agri Weather Network are Rolla - 1003, Flatrock - 948 and Prespatou - 900. BC Peace Agri-Weather Network FHB Tool: http://www.bcpeaceweather.com/fusarium SARDA Ag Research: https://sarda.ca/

Recently while doing scouting we have found Wheat Midge larvae. It is beside a Wheat kernel for size comparison.

Hello, lately we have been noticing quite a bit of peculiar damage on all field crops. We finally managed to catch the culprit last Thursday, it had just finished raining and there they were. We have found them in Canola, Cereals, Peas and also some local forages grown for seed but had not caught them in the act until now.