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SWD Update August 2018

This post contains a summary of trap counts for the week of August 3. Please refer to previous blog posts for counts from earlier in the growing season. The regional monitoring program is being conducted in berry and stone fruit crops and grapes in Essex, Chatham-Kent, Elgin, Norfolk, Niagara, Wellington, Durham, Ottawa/Carleton, Stormont/Glengarry/Dundas and Northumberland counties.

The monitoring project is a collaboration among the Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers, Ontario Tender Fruit Growers, the Eastern Ontario Berry Growers, OMAFRA staff and private consultants.

Traps are being moved from harvested crops into day neutral strawberry, raspberry and blueberry and stone fruit (yellow plum, apricot, peach, nectarine, blue plum).  We have placed 3-4 traps with commercial SWD lures at each site.  Use these results in addition to your own monitoring program to determine when SWD is present on your farm. Conduct a salt water test or a plastic baggie test to confirm presence of larvae in fruit.

SWD has been identified in traps in all monitored counties as of August 3.  This means that growers with ripening crops susceptible to SWD should consider using a product with activity against swd in preharvest sprays.  Check the SWD product registrations on our website. Mako and Malathion have received emergency use registration for this year again and previous blog posts for information on products for managing pre-harvest insects including swd on stone fruit.

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Trending Video

Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?