The Canola Council of Canada is encouraging all canola growers in Western Canada to check their fields for clubroot after the recent discovery of a club-root infested field in northwest Saskatchewan and the expansion of the disease in Alberta.

Curtis Rempel, vice president of crop production and innovation for the Canola Council of Canada, says growers should dig up plants in all areas that show premature ripening and check a few random plants at each field entrance for galls on the roots.

“With early detection of the disease, the grower can implement measures to keep clubroot below yield-reducing levels for the long term and keep it from spreading across the whole farm,” he says.

Clubroot is a soil-borne disease that spreads with the movement of spore-infested soil. Producers are encouraged to clean dirt off machinery used in an infested field, ask custom applicators to clean out their equipment before using it in their fields, reduce tillage usage post-harvest and work in most-infected fields last.

Click here to read the full article from the Canola Council of Canada.