Farmers gathered in Kindersley yesterday for the West Central Ag Outlook.
Regional Crop Specialist John Ippolito talked to producers about the Insect and Disease forecast for 2018:
"If we look at the forecast for wheatmidge and grasshopper, the majority of Saskatchewan has a really low level of infestation - or that's the forecast. Part of that is the previous growing season impacted on those populations, so we're not expecting a lot of trouble at all for wheatmidge or grasshoppers."
He notes they aren’t expecting big infestations of Pea Leaf Weevil but notes they discovered the insect feeding on peas and faba beans across southern Saskatchewan.
In 2017 there was a fair bit of spraying for Diamondback moths, Ippolito says the insect does not overwinter in Saskatchewan:
"They actually get blown into Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba from either the southern US or the Pacific northwest part of the US. So depending on, do we have winds and the right condition, how early in the season do those winds occur, we may see a very low population, we may see not at all."
Source : Discoverestevan