A case of clubroot has been confirmed in a canola field within the MD of Bonnyville.
“We did expect to find it this year because it was so close in the County of St. Paul. It's going to be spreading, that's why we're trying to get the word out to farmers in the area to take those precautions,” said Matt Janz, director of agriculture for the MD of Bonnyville.
Last week, MD agricultural staff released that they found their first confirmed case during the annual crop surveys done in early August. Samples were sent for lab analysis, which came back positive for clubroot.
A serious soil-borne disease, clubroot was found earlier this year on a farm in the County of St. Paul that borders the MD. Spreading at a rate of about 20 miles per year, officials aren't surprised to see it make its way into local fields. While they can't release what producer has the disease, Janz said they weren't expecting to find clubroot in the location they did.
“The location that we found it now is not even close to the location where it was found in the County of St. Paul and not the same producers either, there's nothing tying it back to the other location,” said Janz. “The farmer doesn't farm in other areas...so it was kind of a surprise where we found it.”
With clubroot in the MD, Janz said it's crucial producers be on the lookout. Even though MD officials surveyed every field within the municipality, it's likely the symptoms could still pop up in other crops. Prevalent in canola, clubroot can cause major headaches for producers if a crop contracts the disease as there is no way to completely get rid of the disease and it will stay in the soil for about 20 years.
“If it's a serious enough infection they can have up to 50 percent yield loss in their canola field. It'll be substantial money loss for the farmers if they have those losses in their canola field. They will also have to do a different crop rotations, they will only be able to grow canola one in four years and it's under the pest control act that the government asks everybody to do that if they have an infected field,” explained Janz.
To prevent the spread of clubroot from coming into their own fields, there are a number of best management practices producers can follow. Equipment should be thoroughly cleaned when going from one field to another, or if bought in another area where clubroot has been found. When it comes to seeding next year, farmers should be planning to use clubroot-resistant varieties of canola. Another carrier of clubroot spores could be as simple as the wind blowing dirt around.
“That's why one of the best management practices is we tell people to make sure you don't have soil erosion where you have plumes of dust blowing out of your field, because that is a potential carrier too,” Janz said.
MD officials will be continuing to do inspections and encourage local farmers to do the same. If producers find sick plants in their canola crop they should be pulled. If they find galls on the roots Janz said the best step to take is to call the MD and they will help identify it and pay for the testing.
“It's not just a disease that you can look the other way and it'll go away. It'll be there forever so the best management is to identify it and put some precautions in place so you don't spread it to your other fields.”
The MD will be hosting another information session for canola producers this fall to provide more details about necessary precautions, cropping restrictions and to answer any questions farmers may have.
For more information about clubroot, or if you think you may have the disease in your canola, contact the MD agriculture department at 780-826-3951.
