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Provincial Ministry of Agriculture and AAFC insect surveys. Each year, entomologists from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Research Centres collaborate with extension agrologists, crop specialists and industry groups to conduct insect pest surveys in field crops throughout the Prairies. In 2019, AAFC surveys could include cabbage seedpod weevil, swede midge, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, bertha armyworm, diamondback moth, cereal leaf beetle, pea leaf weevil, lygus bugs, and wheat midge. In most cases, the protocols require survey locations to be selected at random, making it very difficult to predict exactly where and when surveyors will be in a specific area. Most survey protocols will require that the surveyor enter randomly selected fields to visually inspect plants or to take sweep samples with a standard insect net. Other protocols may require that the surveyor enters selected fields to take random plant or soil samples. Ministry staff may be in unmarked vehicles but carry photo ID. AAFC staff performing these surveys in Saskatchewan will be driving vehicles clearly marked with the Government of Canada logo and will be carrying photo-ID cards. They avoid trespassing on posted lands, and any lands that have been restricted by their owners. All surveyors follow biosecurity protocols to prevent the spread of clubroot in canola crops. Results of surveys are posted regularly on Ministry websites and forwarded to the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network Blog. For further clarification or a report on the insect pests found at specific sites, Ministry and AAFC field staff would be pleased to discuss the results of their findings.
Details of survey protocols have also been posted on the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network (PPMN) blog.
Survey results are here: Grasshoppers Diamondback moth
Bertha armyworm Risk warning maps Weekly Updates from the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network
Alberta’s Diamondback moth monitoring tool is live. Survey results are online here.
Cutworm survey. Bird behind the harrows can be a sign of cutworms. This might inspire some crop scouting. If you’re interested in adding your observations to a cutworm survey, go here.