Canola Watch 2018 CCA/CCSC exam: ANSWERS

1. Your name (first and last)? REQUIRED

2. What is your CCA number? (Leave blank if not applicable.)

3. What is your CCSC number? (Leave blank if not applicable.)

4. Please enter your email address so we can reach you if required. REQUIRED

5. Please enter your phone number so we can reach you if required.

6. Which region best describes your location? REQUIRED

7. This is the first question of 70 that will count toward your grade.The headline for a January 2018 article was “If there’s snow, don’t go”. What is the message?

8. AAFC researchers recently completed a nine-year/five-site rotation study across the Prairies that compared continuous Liberty Link canola, continuous Roundup Ready canola, canola in a two-year rotation with wheat, and canola in a three-year rotation with peas and barley. When results from the study are averaged across sites and years, canola yield improved __ bu./ac. with a one-year break and another __ bu./ac. with a two-year break. What number correctly fills those two blanks?

9. Canola Watch mentions the Field Heroes website (fieldheroes.ca), which explains how natural enemies can help manage insect pest populations. Over a 10-year period in Saskatchewan, up to what percentage of first generation diamondback moth larvae were parasitized by beneficial insects Diadegma insularis and Microplitis plutellae?

10. FarmTech 2018 included a mini canoLAB at the Alberta Canola booth. Some of the plants on display had symptoms of _______ toxicity, which is rare but was observed a few times in canola in 2017. High moisture situations that year increased availability of this nutrient, which led to toxicity symptoms that included stunted growth, pale colour and cupped leaves. Fill in the blank.

11. Tank mixing herbicides with different modes of action is considered one of the best ways to avoid herbicide-resistance. That is why tank mixing is recommended for pre-seed glyphosate applications. In 2017, what percentage of pre-seed glyphosate applications in Western Canada included a tank mix?

12. Manitoba Canola Growers compared eight open-pollinated (OP) canola varieties to two popular hybrids, InVigor 5440 and Pioneer Hi-Bred 45H29, in a two-year trial. One OP variety in the trial was the new Alfa Gold, bred at the University of Alberta. In the study, Alfa Gold had an average yield equivalent to ___ per cent of the checks. Fill in the blank.

13. The CCC launched a new video in 2018 called “Blackleg in Canola: Understanding Blackleg Resistance and Management Tools”. The video explains major-gene resistance in canola plants and how the blackleg pathogen population in a field can overcome major-gene resistance. What was the potential long-term problem with the blackleg resistance introduced in canola in 1995?

14. In April, Canola Watch posted a “quick comparison” table for blackleg, clubroot and sclerotinia stem rot. For two of those diseases, the severity of crop damage can drop significantly with a two year (or longer) break between canola crops. One of them seems to see little benefit from crop rotation within specific fields. Which one is that?

15. Further to question 8, why is crop rotation less effective for this disease?

16. In April, Canola Watch posted another table “What pulses are best for your canola rotation?” The purpose was to show how six common pulses crops work in a rotation with canola. Of the pulses compared, which one is considered the best for fixing nitrogen?

17. That same pulse table describes potential production risks for each crop when grown in rotation with canola in Western Canada. The following potential risks are for which crop? "It can require a longer season to achieve break-even yield; it removes a lot of potassium and phosphorus from the soil; it can present a challenge for in-crop control of canola volunteers."

18. When snow melts in spring, what percentage of that moisture actually stays on the field and sinks into the soil?

19. A May 2018 article describes a quick test to check for safe rates of seed-placed fertilizer. While the test may be “quick” to do, results can not be applied until next year. What is the test?

20. An article about scouting with an open mind reminds you to consider history of the land when making a diagnosis. It reads: "Canola seeded into long-term alfalfa land is one example where you may see severe crop stunting and delayed maturity as a result of ______________." Fill in the blank.

21. The answers to the May 16 quiz includes this image, which can help you assess leaf area loss for flea beetle thresholds. Click “submit” on the quiz page to get the answers. What percentage of leaf-area-loss do the blacked-out squares represent for the leaf on the right?

22. Most herbicides are not strongly affected by dust, but two important herbicide active ingredients are very dust-sensitive. They bind readily and strongly to soil particles, which includes not only dust on plant surfaces, but also soil suspended in spray water. What are these two actives?

23. The May 24 quiz asks which common cutworm species tends to thrive in dry conditions. What’s the answer?

24. The same quiz includes this question: Cutworms can be confused with other worm-like insects and critters in the soil. The book "Cutworm Pests of Crops on the Canadian Prairies" lists four worm-like insects that could be confused with cutworm: Crane fly larvae, millipedes, white grubs and wireworms. Which of the following is a unique distinguishing feature of cutworms when compared to those other four insects?

25. Entomologists in Western Canada will often look at wind trajectories to estimate the arrival of which canola insect pest?

26. We had a quick note on spraying flea beetles in hot weather. It said that synthetic pyrethroids (Decis, Matador/Silencer, for examples) benefit from late-day spraying because they should be applied when temperatures are below ___°C. Fill in the blank.

27. Clark Brenzil says that adding this particular micronutrient to herbicide tank mixes is gaining popularity as a way to reduce the risk of herbicide injury. But this can backfire big time because it (and many other micronutrients) is antagonistic to glyphosate. What micronutrient are we talking about here?

28. Spraying only field margins can sometimes be enough for flea beetles, but remember that headlands up against sensitive habitat or riparian areas will require an un-sprayed buffer. Most insecticides require a ___ buffer zone around environmentally sensitive areas. Fill in the blank.

29. In late May we posted a fairly comprehensive cutworm management article. What do we give as “reason one” to scout a damaged area before spraying?

30. The same article says to never spray for population control reasons. Instead, stick to threshold-driven decisions to protect the crop, which is where spray return on investment comes from. The article has this quote from a Prairie-based entomologist: “Lots of things control population. Spray is not very good at it.” Who said that?

31. The June 6 Canola Watch quiz had this question: A farmer seeded canola at 5 lb./ac. The thousand-seed weight was 5 grams. The farmer was out scouting this week and took a few plant stand counts. The average was 6 plants per square foot. What percentage of the seed survived? (Hint: Use the plant survival option as part of the canolacalculator.ca.)

32. The “spray weeds early” recommendation is based on quite a few studies. As is the case with almost any agronomy recommendation, spraying early is based on probabilities. Most of the time it is the right decision. Sometimes it isn’t. That’s farming. One AAFC study described in a June 6 Canola Watch article had nine sites that compared early and late spraying. At how many of those nine sites did the early sprayed plots yield more than the later sprayed plots?

33. That same article also references a University of Saskatchewan study that found early weed control is actually more important than ____________ when it comes to yield. Fill in the blank.

34. A lot of factors can influence herbicide carryover. One is soil pH. But the pH effect can vary by product. For group 2s, some degrade slower with a pH below 7, some degrade slower with a pH above 7. The table notes one other herbicide group that will degrade more slowly in high pH soil. What is the group?

35. We wrote about herbicide carryover again in a June 13 article. We included canola symptoms that you might observe with carryover from Group 2, 4, 5 and 14 herbicides. These are typical canola symptoms for carryover from which group: “Canola plant growth may start normal, but as the plant takes up residual Group ____ herbicide, it can cause clear deformity of new leaves and stems. Abnormal growth can include twisted stems, callused stems, cupped deformed leaves and the development of deformed tissues and secondary roots.” Fill in the blank

36. A June 13 article includes a simple but ingenious idea we picked up from a farmer at canolaPALOOZA. It has to do with painted washers. What are they for?

37. A simple moisture probe can indicate the depth of plant-available moisture, but you need to know the field’s soil type. If the probe goes down 12 inches, that would mean roughly 1.4 inches of available moisture in a “loamy sand” soil and ____ inches of available moisture in a “clay” soil? Fill in the blank.

38. A Canola Watch article explains how to identify nutrient deficiencies in canola. The following describes the symptoms for a specific nutrient: __________ deficiency symptoms rarely show up until later in the season, often not until flowering. With __________ deficiency, yellowing and leaf cupping tend to occur on new leaves first. Purpling of leaf edges can show up when deficiency is fairly severe. In fields short of __________, crops can usually find enough to get past the early rosette stage without visible symptoms. Fill in the blank.

39. The “normal/not normal” quiz from June 20 was one of the more popular Canola Watch entries this year and, as usual, provided its most useful agronomic information after readers clicked “submit” and got the detailed answers. Here is the image (above) from question 6 on that quiz. What was the answer?

40. An article on scouting for cabbage seedpod weevil has an updated recommendation based on AAFC analysis. It says you can get a good assessment of weevil numbers in a field with as few as ______ sweep-net samples. Fill in the blank.

41. The little red bugs, nymphs of Peritrechus convivus, were doing some damage in a few isolated patches again in 2018. The common name is dirt-coloured seed bug. Given that they’re small targets deep in the canopy, sprays may not be that effective. Plus, the article notes that a generalist predator has been found around the red bugs and may be eating them. What is the name of this generalist predator?

42. Michael Harding with Alberta Agriculture & Forestry recently compared 9 commercial disinfectant solutions and 3 new products to see which is best to kill clubroot spores on machinery, tires and boots, etc. Four of those products achieved 95% inactivation of clubroot resting spore viability, qualifying them as ‘effective’. Of the four, which one did Harding conclude was the best choice.

43. Canola Watch provided some specific information on the timeline for sclerotinia stem rot spore release and infection. Once spore-infested petals drop into the canopy and start to decay, lesions can start to be visible within __________. Fill in the blank.

44. An article on the Top 10 questions from canolaPALOOZA includes “What weeds can host clubroot?” The list includes wild mustard, stinkweed, flixweed and _____________. Fill in the blank.

45. In our article about reasons for missing pods, which was first written a few years ago, we added more detail to the paragraph on late off-label applications of herbicide. It now mentions two specific actives. What are they?

46. The disease triangle describes the three things needed for disease infection. What are the three things?

47. An article about diamondback moth parasitoids being at high numbers says that spraying cabbage seedpod weevils when they’re below thresholds could unnecessarily kill off the DBM parasitoids and result in higher levels of DBM feeding. What is the economic threshold for cabbage seedpod weevils?

48. Look at purple plant in the photo below. Purpling can have many reasons and guessing doesn’t help. What is the primary reason for the purpling in this particular plant, as described in the July 11 Canola Watch article that includes this photo?

49. Going into harvest, Canola Watch often reminds farmers about the pre-harvest interval tool at spraytoswath.ca and that canola cannot be stored in bins that have been treated with malathion. If bins are treated with malathion, do not use that bin to store canola for a minimum of ______ after treatment. Fill in the blank.

50. A July 26 article to promote a webinar on the new Combine Optimization Tool includes an embedded video on Canola Harvest Management and Mitigating Loss. The whole first half of the video is about what?

51. The Combine Optimization Tool at canolacalculator.ca helps you work through combine settings to solve a harvest problem. Step one is to select one of three harvest problems you want to solve. The choices are ‘grain loss’, ‘grain sample quality’ and ______________. Fill in the blank.

52. An August 1 article on pre-harvest products for use on canola has some critical information on the use of Reglone. One point is that the Reglone label says to combine no later than ____ days after application. Fill in the blank.

53. Lygus do their damage by feeding on pods. When scouting for lygus, include adults and late-instar nymphs. To identify late-instar nymphs look for distinct black dots on their backs and this other feature: _______________. Fill in the blank.

54. A short summary article from the International Clubroot Workshop included this line: “When six experts in a closing panel were asked to name the one key management step for farmers in Western Canada, four said “______________”. Fill in the blank.

55. An August article about finding a patch of clubroot has this recommendation in the article headline: _______________? Fill in the blank.

56. In a demonstration this summer, Manitoba Agriculture staff used corn seed to demonstrate how far tillage can move soil. Two passes with a disc or cultivator moved “the bulk of” corn seed __________ from its source. Theoretically, clubroot spores, which are microscopic, could move much farther with the same amount of tillage. Fill in the blank.

57. One of our Top 10 observations from International Clubroot Workshop was that infected galls produce more spores than we originally thought. One heavily-infected plant could produce __________ spores. Fill in the blank.

58. The August 22 quiz asks, what caused this damage?

59. An August 29 article reminded you to include this disease in your pre-harvest scouting. It produces peeling of the epidermis and could be confused with sclerotinia stem rot, but it doesn’t lead to complete shattering of the stalk and sclerotia inside the stem that you get with sclerotinia. What is the disease?

60. A September article explains how new tests allow farmers to identify the blackleg races in their fields, information they can use to choose canola varieties with resistance to those races. The article says that if average blackleg severity is ________________, this is a clear sign that the blackleg resistance in the variety is no longer appropriate for this particular field. Fill in the blank.

61. The September 12 quiz about fall weed control showed this photo and asked when would be the best time to spray this weed in the fall?

62. A September article on canola storage in large bins summarized a Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) study on air movement through a 25,000-bushel bin. With canola, PAMI found that a standard, single phase 10-hp centrifugal fan could not push air through canola when the bin was full. PAMI found that the bin could be filled with no more than _________ bushels to get air flow through canola. Fill in the blank.

63. What did that same study conclude was the key limiting factor for using bins of 25,000 bushels or more to store and condition canola?

64. In September, clubroot was confirmed in fields southeast of Calgary in this county, reminding growers outside the clubroot ‘hot zone’ that no region of the Prairies is immune to clubroot.

65. Soil tests for the presence of clubroot-causing Plasmodiophora brassicae can indicate the presence of the pathogen and also the spore count per gram of sampled soil. These spore-count results could be used to assess the clubroot risk level, but the ‘grey-area’ nature of this test creates problems for interpretation. The article says: “Fewer spores mean lower risk, but clubroot infection can still occur at _________ spores per gram of soil, or less.” Fill in the blank.

66. The same article says farmers could save the buckets of sampled soil and use it for a ‘winter project’. What is the project?

67. An October article answers questions about handling high-moisture canola. One question is ‘What moisture level is too high to combine canola?’ We know from a survey that some farmers were combining canola with moisture over 20%. That canola will take more than one round through a dryer. The article says one cycle with the dryer can safely remove up to ______ percentage points of moisture. Fill in the blank.

68. The same article asks a question about adding supplemental heat to an aeration system. What is the minimum heater output recommended, in Btu per hour?

69. An article on spraying weeds after frost and snow notes that green colour on weed leaves is not enough to determine weed health. Leaf tissue must be still relatively pliable and the plant should be showing signs of new growth. In this situation, weed control can still be obtained if no more than ____% of the original leaf tissue is damaged. Fill in the blank.

70. A November article on grading for green made this point:

71. The same article includes grading parameters for green. The allowable limit for ____ is 20% distinctly green and 25% total damaged seed (including green). Fill in the blank.

72. Another green seed article in November explains the problem with high-green seed, from a processors perspective. Basically, chlorophyll discolours the oil. How do processors remove chlorophyll?

73. The November quiz included this photo of a smoke-filled sky in August. It links to a Country Guide article in which farmers in central Alberta claimed, and it is likely true, that smoke delayed their later-seeded canola crops by how many days?

74. The article, ‘Consider yield and profit when choosing a seeding rate’, included this paragraph: In a meta-analysis of more recent Western Canadian studies on hybrid canola, Murray Hartman, oilseeds specialist with Alberta Agriculture, found that, overall, hybrid canola achieved 95% of its yield potential with six to eight plants per square foot, 90% of its yield potential with three to four plants per square foot and ____% at two to three plants per square foot. Fewer plants than that and yield potential can drop dramatically. Fill in the blank.

75. The same article noted that low plant populations also face other subjective factors that can reduce the profit or increase risk or both. What is the first subjective factor listed, reflecting the major potential yield loss that this factor represents?

76. In an article on terminology of genetic resistance, what term does this define: ‘Repeated use of the same type of resistance will keep these common pathotypes from increasing, but this resistance also opens the door for rapid increases of some less common pathotypes that were already present.’?