Canola Growers Encouraged To Be Proactive With Get Tested Program

Sep 20, 2021

Canola growers in the province can get their fields tested for clubroot, blackleg, verticillium stripe and glyphosate resistant weeds through the Manitoba Canola Growers Association's (MCGA) Get Tested program.

According to Justine Cornelson, an agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada which works in partnership with the MCGA, these tests can help with future years and planning.

"Something like a clubroot test, we do recommend growers test their canola fields for next spring," she explained. "If you're coming out of a wheat or a cereal crop, you should test that soil right now to see what the spore load for clubroot is before you plant a canola field in it next year."

Indications of a crop disease often include areas that don't well-represent the field, added Cornelson. This could include a patch that's lodging, or an area that's dried down quicker than the rest of the field.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.