Canola School: Lodged, Dead or Thin Canola Stands — Scouting for Blackleg & More

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There’s a lot you can learn from late season scouting of canola. Not only is this prime insect feeding time, it’s also when disease development reaches its peak. Prematurely ripened areas in a field should be a giant red flag to any farmer or agronomist. What are you looking for? It could be sclerotinia, blackleg, or, worse yet, clubroot. It makes a significant difference to ensure you identify the offending disease, because each of these requires a very unique long-term management plan. While souting for maturity, or even while swathing, is a great time to assess what’s killing your canola.
When assessing a crop for blackleg, early scouting is essential. A fungicide application very quickly becomes a waste of money, as staging progresses past even the four-leaf stage. But, there’s still good reasons to scout, even into and after harvest.
Symptoms of blackleg at later stages of crop development will include: lodging, characteristic legions on the leaves and internal blackening of the stem. Residue, even two years following a canola crop, can give an indication of blackleg pressure as well, with the presence of pycnidia (reproductive structures, or “fruiting bodies”). A quick scout of a field can give you an idea of blackleg pressure in the future, and resistance breakdown in your area.

Read more and watch a video at http://www.realagriculture.com/2013...hin-canola-stands-scouting-for-blackleg-more/
 
 
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