Preparing crops against insect pests this summer

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

A dramatic increase in insect population this year will force farmers to determine whether or not it makes economic sense to apply an insecticide to crops.
Depending on the size of the contaminated area and the type of insect in the crop, property owners need to determine whether or not their yield potential is high enough that they can absorb the financial cost to spray.
One of the main insect culprits is the grasshopper. The grasshopper does not discriminate when it comes to plant type, be it an oilseed, legume or cereal. They can swarm and once they are in, they populate the area and remain there for three years.
But like the weather, there are ways to anticipate and prepare your fields for the upcoming season.
“The Alberta Agriculture website tests and has a monitoring network that details information and produces a large number of maps for every section of the province for a number of different insects,” said Russel Muenchrath, manager of agriculture services with Wheatland County.
Grasshoppers aren’t the only insect tracked by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry – they also have maps for wheat midge, wheat stem sawfly, pea leaf weevil, bertha armyworm and the cabbage seedpod weevil.
Luckily, Mother Nature is on the farmer’s side, producing a number of beneficial insects, such as the black ground beetle and the ladybug, both of which prey on damaging insects.
“The best thing farmers can do is to rotate their crops each year with a different type of seed,” said Neil Whatley, crop specialist with the Alberta Ag-Info Centre. “Crop rotation helps mitigates pests by mixing up the types of crop and not allowing the population of the insects to build up year-to-year.”
More information about economic thresholds and insect forecasts can be found on the Agriculture Alberta and Forestry website, agric.gov.ab.ca.