SaskCanola and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture will offer the clubroot soil monitoring program this fall
Staff Writer
Farms.com
SaskCanola wants producers to test their soils for clubroot this fall and will cover the associated $100 cost per test.
“Just like a good health checkup for the personal body, we're suggesting producers do a good health checkup for their soil and find out where it's at,” said Wayne Truman. He’s the chair of SaskCanola.
Each year, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture and SaskCanola offer the monitoring program. Usually, the ministry and producer group target areas of the province with the highest risk of clubroot. This year, they’re opening the program to enable retail and private sector agrologists to test on behalf of farmers, said Truman.
“We're asking people to take a little soil sample and send it in. You can drop it off at the Sask. ministry offices throughout the province,” he told Farms.com.
While the prevalence of clubroot in Saskatchewan is currently low, the number of fields infected grows annually, said Truman.
Clubroot “has the potential to be deadly to our industry and we need to be smart about it. We need to take control of it at the front end and not wait until it's a major problem,” he said.
Producers should continuously scout their fields and watch for premature ripening, which can indicate clubroot. Growers should also have a good crop rotations in place and use clubroot-resistant canola varieties, said Truman.
Photo credit: Dan Orchard photo
“Canola after canola is just absolutely a sin. We can't do that because, if you (have clubroot), the spore load will increase. It'll multiply in no time,” said Truman. “The longer rotations are our best defense.”
Soil sampling should take place after producers swath or combine fields. Producers or agrologists can pick testing kits up at ministry regional offices, SaskCanola and select rural municipalities.
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