b'PEST OUTLOOK2020Pest and Disease OutlookTop pest and disease concerns in Alberta for the coming year. AFTER A COUPLE of dry years, 2019 was a wetter year in most areas of Alberta, at least in the second half of the growing season, which allowed some crop diseases to rear their ugly heads. This may very well affect what diseases are most threatening in 2020, but the weather will, as always, be a huge factor. With cereals and canola, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) plant pathology research scientist Kelly Turkington explains even though it was dry in 2017 and 2018, there may still have been background low-level infections in lower crop canopies and, thus, potential inoculum, especially for cereal leaf diseases. When the moisture arrives, even a low level of cereal leaf spot inoculum on old crop residues can be a concern, says Turkington, who is based at the AAFC Lacombe Research and Development Centre. A lot of the leaf spot diseases in barley and wheat are polycyclic, which means they have many cycles of spore production, dispersal, and host infection, with some cycles being as short as sevenA barley leaf with scald symptoms. PHOTO: KELLY TURKINGTONdays. With moisture present, they can quickly produce large amounts of spores(although no-till seeding helps reducewhich reduced leaf disease development and build up to damaging levels. the impact of diseases such as commonresulting in better yield than growing the Seed testing lab results dating backroot rot). Disease survey results suggestsame barley variety continuously. from before 2012 illustrate the continuedthe development of the Septoria leafIn addition, take-all root rot disease is expansion of Fusarium graminearumdisease complex in wheat and this willalways a risk in wheat-on-wheat, notes in cereal seed samples in Alberta,also be an issue to watch for in 2020. Turkington, but it can also infect barley, notes Turkington. Levels of detectionIn barley, scald is also a threat, butalthough levels in both crops appear decreased in 2017 and 2018, but moistmainly in cooler western Prairie regions.to be reduced compared to years ago. conditions in central and northernIf you had a significant amount of scald inGrowers should also keep in mind that Alberta (as well as irrigation in southern2019 and you need to grow barley in thetake-all does better in alkaline soil, so Alberta) resulted in F. graminearumsame fields this coming year, you shouldTurkington says, if youve applied lime detections skyrocketing in 2019, but notchange varieties and pick a variety with asto deal with clubroot in canola, watch at 2016 levels. complete a resistance package as possible,out. In canola, he points to sclerotinia In cereals, as in years past, Turkingtonnot just for scald, advises Turkington.stem rot, clubroot and blackleg as says root rots should not be too much ofFor silage or forage production, keep inrisks for 2020, although the extent will a problem unless growers are plantingmind that we did a trial where we planteddepend largely on the weather.barley-on-barley or wheat-on-wheata mixture of triticale, oat and barley,To mitigate all disease risk in 2020, 12seed.ab.ca'