By Curtis Galbraith

Clubroot found in the Peace Country for the first time

Jan 19, 2018 | 1:39 PM

The canola disease clubroot showed up in the Peace for the first time in 2017.

It was first found in Big Lakes County, then in the MD of Greenview in five fields in the Sunset House area.

Greenview Manager of Agricultural Services Quentin Bochar says the disease is usually spread by dirt on equipment.

“If a neighbouring county has it and then you’ve got people that could be farming on both sides or someone bought farm equipment from somewhere and didn’t get all the dirt knocked off. Clubroot itself primarily moves with the soil.”

He adds club root can greatly reduce yields in canola crops.

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“It’s a spore-type disease. A holding spore releases a bunch of resting spores. They sit in the soil and when they sense canola is around, they move to the canola plant and infect it. They primarily absorb through the root. They prevent the plant from absorbing moisture and nutrients.”

The M.D. of Greenview will have a pair of information sessions on clubroot January 23. One will be at the Debolt Centre 1 to 4 p.m., the other at the Memorial Hall in Valleyview from 7 to 10 p.m.

“There will be a pathologist from the Province of Alberta (speaking). There (will be) an agronomist from the Canola Council of Canada and then we’ll be talking about how we found it, where we found it, and what the future directions will be,” adds Bochar.