2021 Ontario Cereal Leaf Beetle Survey

May 19, 2021

We are gathering cereal leaf beetle (CLB) data again this year to help validate growing degree day models generated by AAFC-Saskatchewan. If you are out scouting cereal fields this growing season and come across CLB, we want you to let us know where you are finding this pest, what stage and how many you are finding. To enter your field information, please complete the CLB survey at the following link: Cereal Leaf Beetle Survey. The survey can be accessed from your smartphone, tablet or you can enter the field location information at your desktop computer.

As part of the CLB survey, we would also like 15 to 30 CLB larvae per field collected in vials of alcohol (or hand sanitizer) to send to AAFC-Lethbridge. There, Dr. Haley Catton will dissect the larvae to search for the very important parasitoid wasp, Tetrastichus julius. So if you find larvae, please contact Tracey Baute (519-360-7817) to coordinate these collections.

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Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.