Issues of the week

Insects are the hottest topic this week, with managing uneven maturity at swathing and harvest a close second. Before spraying those insects, make sure the target insect is properly identified and check that it has reached economic control thresholds throughout the field. If you need to spray, evening spraying will avoid high temperatures that could adversely affect insecticide performance. It will also reduce the impact on bees that are more actively foraging during the day.

While scouting for insects, take some time to check the disease situation. Clubroot, sclerotinia and blackleg are showing up at high levels in some regions. A least one field near Vermilion, Alberta, has heavy clubroot infection, indicating the continued eastward movement of the disease. Properly identifying what diseases are present and at what levels will help with management in future years.

Know the pre-harvest interval for any insecticide or fungicide you plan to use between now and cutting. “Cutting” is the key word. If the pre-harvest interval for a product is 21 days, it needs a minimum of 21 days between application and cutting (swathing or straight combining) to break down or dissipate sufficiently to avoid residues on or in the seed. Click here for a list of products and their pre-harvest intervals.