Verticillium wilt found in canola

[MBgrower]

I swear canola was developed to sell crop inputs. Yet another disease to deal with. Add club root, and swede midge and the other 20 or so other diseases and pests, this crops days are numbered. But i guess the seedcos cant wait to find some half ass genetic resistance and then raise seed prices to $20/bu.


http://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/verticillium-wilt-makes-jump-to-canadian-canola

[MBgrower]

Should read $20/lb

[SASKFARMER3]

Read that this morning! Thought the same.

[Daylate]

Hopefully they don't find a productvthat works worth a shit. Then when everyone grows 15bu crops and sells for $20/BU with half the fertilizer, open pollinated farm saved seed well be back in the money.

[hobbyfrmr]

Won't happen. Farmers can't afford not to grow canola with all the money they have borrowed. Cheating rotations and growing more acres of canola more often has created a real mess in western Canada. It is only a matter of time. I am truly suprised it took this long.
I'm going by a very poor memory but I think Weber had provincial map stats showing area 9A with 44% acres planted to canola. farmers need it for cash flow and its working around here, for now.

[farmaholic]

Sell anything you want, when you want, to who you want, now or in advance. No need to rely only on canola for cash flow, right furrow?

[tweety]

Perhaps you missed in the article, there are no products, only prevention.

Today, canola is done for if you have it.

No bullshit, its a bad one.

[ajl]

Good thing it is in MB, a province where there are soy varieties. Bye canola, Hello soy. Nuff said.

[tweety]

Ya cuz diseases never spread to other provinces. Sheesh.

[charliep]

Here is a Canola Council of Canada press release that Alberta Canola Producers Commission posted.

Canola Council of Canada media release

Canola industry responding to first report of verticillium wilt in canola

January 9, 2015 – The Canadian canola industry is focused on a collaborative approach to evaluate prevalence and develop a management strategy for verticillium wilt. Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Development (MAFRD) announced the detection of Verticillium longisporum (a species of verticillium wilt) in a canola field in Manitoba earlier this week.

“The Canola Council is working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and MAFRD to understand the implications of this pathogen,” says Patti Miller, president of the Canola Council of Canada (CCC). “We will focus on collaborating with regulators, researchers and grower groups to determine its prevalence and bring best management practices to growers.”

MAFRD has reported the identification of verticillium wilt at a single location, and the CFIA has implemented risk mitigation measures at this site. “The industry has been fully cooperative with MAFRD and CFIA from the very beginning,” says Miller. “Although it’s disappointing that a new disease has been identified, it shows that the system is working and the industry is responding in a proactive and collaborative manner.”

“The canola industry has a long history and significant experience in working together to control diseases and pest issues as they arise and this collaborative approach will continue,” says Miller.

The CCC will be posting information on the disease life cycle and identification to its website and bring management practices to growers in time for seeding. The latest research will also be discussed at the International ****seed Congress in Saskatoon in July 2015. A few facts currently available on the disease include:
•It is not the same species that causes verticillium wilt in sunflower and potatoes, which is common throughout Manitoba.
•Symptoms include chlorosis of lateral branches or leaves (often one-sided), early death stunting. At later stages, the outer stem may peel back to reveal black microsclerotia.
•The best time to scout for verticillium wilt in canola is at swathing, but it is even possible to identify this disease after harvest as microsclerotia will continue to develop.
•It is a soil-borne pathogen that can survive in the soil for 10 to 15 years, so biosecurity practices similar to those recommended for clubroot can help prevent spread.
•Fungicides are not effective against this disease and host resistance in canola is not available at this time.

[agstar77]

Manitoba should curtail canola production in the affected area. Spread to Sask would end the canola industry. Drastic measures are needed. Crush plants convert to soy.

[agstar77]

This outbreak also shows the danger of the Megafarms, that farm thousands of acres ,dragging equipment with them, all over the province.