Science Edition 2020—KEY RESULT: Swede midge, an invasive species, causes costly damage to canola in Ontario – but not on the Prairies at this time. Modeling found that when a high number of adults coincided with days of high temperatures, egg laying would increase and result in higher damage levels in the current year and outbreak-level populations...

Science Edition 2020—KEY RESULT: Researchers identified a sex pheromone used by female canola flower midge. The sex pheromone can be produced synthetically and is highly attractive to males in the field. This identification will facilitate development of a pheromone-based monitoring system for C. brassicola. PROJECT TITLE, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: “Development of a pheromone-based monitoring system for a newly...

Science Edition 2020—KEY RESULT: The Prairie Pest Monitoring Network (PPMN) provides forecasts, risk maps and monitoring protocols for crop pest insects across Western Canada. It also provides a free weekly update. Anyone can subscribe at prairiepest.ca. PROJECT TITLE, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: “Coordinated surveillance, forecasting and risk warning systems for field crop insect pests of the Prairie ecosystem,” Jennifer...

Science Edition 2020—KEY RESULT: This three-year study frequently showed benefits to using pre-harvest herbicide and desiccant options as tools to improve straight combining results. However, results show that going without a pre-harvest herbicide or desiccant is a potentially viable option, especially for early seeded, reasonably uniform and weed-free fields where a hybrid with good pod shatter tolerance...

Science Edition 2020—KEY RESULT: A combine yield loss survey of 50 combines across the Prairies in 2019 found that weather factors had significant influence on losses. This emphasizes the need to regularly adjust and test throughout the day and harvest season. Temperatures greater than 23°C, relative humidity less than 45 per cent, and low cloud cover all...