By John Damico
Oklahoma canola farmers have been fortunate so far this year, according to Dr. John Damicon of Oklahoma State University, referring to the constant threat of disease that looms throughout the growing season.
“If you pick up a book on canola diseases, it’s probably 200 pages long and has lots of problems that can happen in canola,” Damicon said. “We’ve had Blackleg show up pretty much all over the state. But I think our varieties are resistant enough where it’s not hurting us too badly.”
Aside from Blackleg, which causes stem cankers, Dr. Damicon says canola farmers should also look out for other diseases like Sclerotinia, a very persistent soil born disease that causes aggressive stem rot, killing the plants. He says this is a disease farmers do not want to get in their crop. He encourages producers to only plant canola in the same field once every three or four years to keep Sclerotinia levels from building up.
Aster yellows is another disease to keep an eye on. Dr. Damicon says although there are products available to kill the leaf hoppers that spread this disease, it is very difficult for farmers to identify when the have the problem, and there never really know when to spray their crop.
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