This year, however, a lot of producers were delayed in seeding since they had to harvest their 2019 crop first. As a result, they missed the beginning wave of flea beetles emerging – albeit in a different way than conventional wisdom dictates.
Canola producers must deal with flea beetles in different degrees each year, said Tansey.
“You can count on at least some growers getting some heavy damage. Flea beetles are a perennial problem everywhere; (this situation) is why all canola is treated with an insecticidal seed treatment,” said Tansey.
Since the first wave of flea beetles reach the end of their lifecycle by early or mid-June, a lot of producers are past the point of this cycle causing huge problems.
But canola producers should still watch for the diamond back moth, whose damage can look like flea beetle damage.
“We're seeing a relatively earlier migration of diamond back moth into this part of the world,” said Tansey. “We have pheromone traps throughout the province and we're catching them earlier and apparently in greater numbers than what we were seeing last year. … That's one (pest) that folks will want to keep an eye out for this year.”
Liudmyla Liudmyla/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo