Wet conditions creating more pests for Saskatchewan farmers

Another pest to watch out for this year is the root maggot, which doesn’t typically affect canola crops much unless there are wet conditions like there are this year. Tansey said they’ve already had one report of major damage from root maggots near Kindersley already this year.

On the flip side, the wet conditions should make it harder for grasshoppers to survive. With the combination of the moisture received this year and cooler temperatures to start the summer, as snow was on the ground for May long weekend, we likely won’t see many grasshoppers active.

Still, grasshoppers are moving, and Tansey said it could lead to a bigger boom of grasshoppers in the future.

“Happily, we haven’t seen major grasshopper populations like we’ve seen in recent years. However, they are pretty fecund, and that is the girls can lay a lot of eggs, and we do have isolated pockets of particularly two stripe grasshopper in the province. So we’re going to keep an eye out for those ones, continue to monitor for them and help out with the provincial survey associated with those pests, and stay tuned on the ministry website, the Prairie Pest Monitoring Network website as well for updates on those.”

Although not directly affected by the rainfall numbers, Tansey is expecting a big year for Bertha earthworms this year. With a strong looking canola crop in the province, the breeding grounds for Berthas are giving them the perfect conditions to lay eggs, and what has already hatched has the potential to cause some damage.

“We’ve got really large adult catches right now. Some are quite monsters. So I encourage people to take a look at the ministry website, we update that one approximately weekly, and what we’re seeing is a considerably elevated risk between Saskatoon, Rosetown, and Outlook, some northern regions where we’re getting some calls about Bertha armyworm damage already, and some growers are considering spraying for these at this time. We’ve also got big populations in the western region along the Alberta border, so that is the North Battleford area and Kindersley, Lloydminster, and into the southeast as well near Estevan.”

The final pest that Tansey has seen growers in the province having major issues with right now is the pea aphid. Despite the name, pea aphids are hurting the lentil crop now more than anything else.

This summer has also been a wild one when it comes to wind as well with one of the busiest tornado seasons the province has seen. Tansey said that the province is monitoring for pests that fly in on the wind, mainly diamondback moths and pea aphids.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Wet conditions creating more pests for Saskatchewan farmers

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