Your Fungicide Pass Is Coming. Are You Checking for Insects First?

You have got fields in different windows, a sprayer to book, and insects you may or may not have checked yet. July does not wait and neither do we.

If your fungicide pass is coming up and you have not scouted for insects yet, that tank mix decision is already behind. Here is what to check before the sprayer rolls.

FUNGICIDE TIMING: CROP STAGE, NOT THE CALENDAR

A wet spring means disease pressure is elevated across most of Western Canada this season. The temptation to go in early is real when you know the conditions are there. Resist it.

Fungicide timing in canola is driven by crop stage. The window is 20 to 50 percent bloom. Going in before that reduces efficacy. Early seeded canola may already be in the window. Later-seeded fields are close behind.

Scout the stage before you book the sprayer. If you are stacking an insecticide decision on top of the fungicide pass, that is a separate threshold call. Check both before you commit.

CANOLA INSECTS TO CHECK BEFORE YOUR FUNGICIDE PASS

• 

  Diamond Back Moth

• 

  Bertha Armyworm

• 

  Lygus Bug

• 

  Cabbage Seedpod Weevil

BEYOND CANOLA: WHAT TO WATCH IN CEREALS AND PULSES

In cereals, grasshoppers are the primary pest to watch through July. Mid to late July is also when cereal aphid populations can build to threshold level in some years, and the key word is threshold. Not every year requires a spray decision for aphids.

Tyler Wist's Fieldheroes calculator at fieldheroes.ca walks through the threshold decision using actual field counts and tracks beneficial insects alongside pest pressure. Worth bookmarking if you scout cereals.

Pulses are relatively pest-light this time of year. Lentils see the most insect activity of the pulse crops, and aphids are the main one to watch heading into late July.

THE DECISION THAT MATTERS

The question going into every fungicide pass right now is whether to add an insecticide to the tank. That decision should be driven by scouting, not assumption. Adding something that is not needed costs money and kills beneficials. Missing a threshold that is there costs yield.

Scout first. Decide after.

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