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FUSARIUMMANAGEMENTA
COMPLEX ISSUE INALBERTA
SLOWLY, BUT SURELY,
FUSARIUM
graminearum
has invaded Alberta fields.
The destructive fungus is now firmly
established in much of irrigated south-
ern Alberta and cases of fusarium head
blightare on the rise in the central and
northern parts of the province.
Alberta’s Fusarium Management Plan,
which takes a zero-tolerance approach to
fusarium graminearum
on grain sold for
seed, was originally developed to prevent
the pathogen from moving into Alberta
and to limit its negative impact on Alberta
farmers. However, now that fusarium is
spreading across the province, some argue
the management plan and its zero-toler-
ance policy are due for an update.
“From a seed grower perspective, the
disease is soil-borne and so much more
weather dependent than it is dependent
on inoculum load in the seed,” said Todd
Hyra, SeCan’s business manager for West-
ern Canada. “So you’ve got seed growers
who are producing new varieties [but] are
unable to sell their seed locally because
there are trace levels of fusarium.”
Alberta’s management plan has created
an uneven playing field between pedi-
greed seed growers, who have to test for
fusarium, and farmers who use farm-
saved seed, Hyra said.
“Right now, seed growers are testing and
farm-saved seed users are not necessarily
testing,” he said. “So it’s kind of an unfair
playing field if you’re asking a seed grower
to not sell, and dump all his inventory, and
then another individual who is just not
testing is able to use their production.”
The Alberta Fusarium Action Com-
mittee recently reviewed the Fusarium
Management Plan, and changes could be
announced soon.
“The sooner they can do that, the better
o not necessarily just seed growers, but
grain producers in general, will be,” Hyra
said. Increasing the tolerated level of
fusarium on seed would be a great first
step, he added.
In early 2014, a Private Member’s Bill
was introduced in the Alberta Legislature
advocating the tolerance level be raised
to 0.5 per cent. The Bill was referred to
the legislature’s Standing Committee on
Resource Stewardship which recommend-
ed in June that the Bill not proceed in its
current form. It also suggested consider-
ation be given to a regional approach that
would allow certain areas of the province
to deviate from the zero tolerance policy.
In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where
fusarium is widespread, there are no
regulations for fusarium on seed, although
many growers do test for the pathogen. In-
stead, both seed growers and grain farm-
ers in these provinces focus on controlling
the disease using a variety of best manage-
ment practices, including seed treatments
and fungicide applications, Hyra said.
According to Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada plant pathologist Kelly Turkington,
if you farm in an area where fusarium has
not been reported or has been reported in
very low levels, a fusarium-free seed source
is important to prevent introduction of
the pathogen. However, once fusarium is
established on crop residues, introducing
fusarium on seed is irrelevant.
“Once it becomes established on the
crop residue, the most important source of
disease is not the seed itself,” Turkington
said. “It’s the crop residue that’s within
your field or your neighbour’s field.”
Throughout Alberta, Turkington said,
farmers need to be cognizant of fusarium
and the risk factors that allow the fungus
to thrive, such as heavy irrigation and any
crop rotation without two full years be-
tween host crops, which include all small-
grain cereals and corn. The canola-cere-
al-canola-cereal rotation popular among
Alberta farmers does not allow enough
time for fusarium-infested crop residues to
decompose, he added.
For many farmers, the ideal solution
would be fusarium-resistant varieties
of currently susceptible crops, but the
disease has been a tough nut to crack for
breeders, Hyra said.
“Every cycle, we’re seeing some improve-
ments, where up until 10 years ago there
were no moderately resistant varieties
and now we’re seeing a flow of moderately
resistant products with good agronomics.”
One variety that has many farmers
intrigued is Canterra Seeds’ AC Emerson
winter wheat, which is available for plant-
ing this fall. AC Emerson is the first wheat
variety of any kind to receive a resistant,
or “R,” rating for fusarium head blight.
CALGARYGETS
BEEFCENTRE
CALGARY WILL BE THE HOME TO
a new state-of-the-art facility for the Ca-
nadian beef industry, designed to show-
case the advantages of Canadian beef to
domestic and international customers by
January 2015.
The Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence
will feature a full commercial kitchen, a
meat display case, a classroom and a din-
ing room. Chefs and butchers will be on-
hand to provide unique beef experiences.
“It is allowing people to come and see,
feel, experience and, at the end of the day,
taste, all that is Canadian beef,” said Can-
ada Beef Inc. president Rob Meijer. “It’ll
be a true expression of the farm-to-fork
Canadian experience.”
The Centre will also o er beef industry
education and training, covering topics
such as food safety, quality controls and
production practices, Meijer said.
The facility is the product of a partner-
ship between Canada Beef Inc. and the
federal government.
Fall
2014
grainswest.com
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