Objectives for better beetle management

Flea beetles are the pest of greatest economic risk to canola production, according to a 2022 Canola Council of Canada survey of canola growers.

With more striped species, which emerge earlier in the spring and seem more tolerant of common seed treatments, and with spring weather conditions that challenge rapid crop emergence, flea beetle damage seems worse than ever.

Objective A: Rapid canola emergence

The ideal flea beetle buster is a canola crop that establishes quickly with five to eight plants per square foot. More plants mean more food for the flea beetles, which limits the damage per plant.  

Scenarios that require multiple in-season foliar sprays are often the result of a slow-establishing, non-competitive crop. Many factors can cause this, including moisture, temperature, plant populations, seed treatment and overall flea beetle numbers.

Management steps to reduce the risk include:

Seed shallow into warm, moist soil. Consider seeding cereals first as they can tolerate cooler spring soils. Seed canola after soils have warmed up and ideally just before or after a spring rain.

Use an advanced seed treatment to improve flea beetle protection in high-risk areas. These include Buteo Start, Lumiderm, Fortenza and Fortenza Advanced.

Use safe rates of seed-placed fertilizer. The recommendation is to use only phosphorus in the seed row at rates of 20 lb./ac. of actual phosphate. Higher rates of seed-placed fertilizer can add more stress, slow the pace of growth and reduce the stand.