This is why researchers at the University of Manitoba and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are examining the role arthropods play in anaplasmosis, as well as designing better tests.

“There’s a potential that it exists in cattle herds in certain parts of the country. So we want to get an idea of that, because until we have an understanding of some of those baseline risks, we don’t know maybe where to go, or if it’s really important to spend much time looking at this disease,” says Shaun Dergousoff, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

WHY IT MATTERS: The scope of treatment tools available for farmers to manage parasites, including ticks, and biting insects in their herds has changed compared to decades past.

Anaplasmosis is caused by a bacterial parasite called Anaplasma marginale, which attacks the red blood cells. It affects cattle, sheep, goats and deer, but in Canada, it is more commonly seen in cattle.

Clinical signs of anaplasmosis include fever, anemia, weakness, weight loss and issues with breathing. It is rare for it to affect calves under six months of age and symptoms will be mild in calves younger than a year. It is rarely fatal for animals under two years old. In animals older than two years that have shown signs of illness, mortalities can range from 29 to 49 per cent.

Anaplasmosis is usually treated with an antibiotic, which helps with the symptoms but won’t get rid of the disease.

“Once an animal’s infected, it pretty much always stays infected, even if they’re not sick. But then the problem is they could become a source now of transmitting and moving that bacteria to other animals,” Dergousoff says.

Anaplasmosis is transmitted by anything that can spread infected blood, such as needles, dehorning tools, castration tools, etc. Biting pests also spread anaplasmosis. Arthropods well known for spreading anaplasmosis include the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the American dog tick.

Ticks and flies

Kateryn Rochon is an entomologist at the University of Manitoba and is working alongside Dergousoff on this project. She is focused on the insect side of the research, looking specifically at ticks and flies.

When it comes to ticks and flies spreading anaplasmosis, it is not really known how often it is transmitted from those sources, and how often from livestock management practices. That is part of Rochon’s work.

While ticks are known biological vectors, biting flies are not. However, they could still transmit the disease as a mechanical vector, which means the bacteria does not multiply inside them, but might be passed on from the blood around the fly’s mouth parts after feeding on an animal.

The question is whether they are transmitting the disease this way.

“We might not be able to find it in the ticks or the flies, but we’re looking because we’re trying to determine what role they play,” Rochon says. “For me, as an entomologist, there’s the interest of just what’s going on out there.”

To conduct this research, Rochon would collect ticks and flies in producers’ pastures. She’d collect ticks by dragging a white piece of flannel through the grass. This attracts the ticks because of something they do called questing, which is when they climb to the top of the grass and wave their claws in the air to latch on more easily. The light colour of the flannel attracts them.

Fly traps

They used two different types of fly traps for biting flies: horse fly traps and a Manitoba trap.

The Manitoba trap is an inverted canopy trap with a black yoga ball dangling below the canopy, and a container of some sort at the top. The ball attracts the flies into the trap because the colour and the gleam trick them into thinking it’s an animal. They then fly up, are caught within the canopy, crawl into the container and are trapped.

Rochon says this trap has been very successful, but sometimes, not even necessary.

“There’s some places where we go, there’s so many horseflies, we can just catch them with a net.”

During the summer of 2024, they caught over 1,300 flies at two different locations in Manitoba. After the insects were collected, they were taken back to the lab to be frozen and identified.

Then, after identification, each fly was dissected so their gut could be tested for the bacteria that causes bovine anaplasmosis. Since only females bite, they examine the flies’ ovaries to find out how many batches of eggs each female fly has laid. This is because each batch of eggs requires a blood meal. So, the researchers can see which species bite more, are more likely to spread diseases among cattle and at what point in the season.

This study will end in 2027.

A new anaplasmosis test

Alongside this research, another project is underway to create a reliable anaplasmosis test.

Currently, the diagnostic tests used for anaplasmosis are Giemsa-stained blood smears and serologic tests, according to Merck Animal Health. The bovine blood smear tests blood samples from the animal for the bacterial parasite that causes anaplasmosis.

Serologic tests are used to identify antibodies against Anaplasma marginale in cattle, which suggests past or present infection. These tests can help diagnose carrier animals who may be spreading the disease and not showing clinical symptoms, but it is not very accurate. The tests often misdiagnose anaplasmosis because the bacteria are similar to those from other diseases. This is why Dergousoff wants to make a more reliable, accurate test.

“A rapid test would be very beneficial, but also because some tests have had the problem where they’ve said that animals are infected with Anaplasma marginale, but it really was something else or not at all,” he says. “So they’re not perfect, and no test is, but we’re looking for an improvement.”

Dergousoff is working with beef producers and their veterinarians to take blood samples from their herd and test them for the presence of Anaplasma marginale. This will determine which animals are infected, even if they are not showing clinical signs of infection.

To create the new test, Dergousoff says they have to look closely at the molecules present and at the Anaplasma marginale bacteria.

Then, they will develop a method for testing and preparing the blood and start making a prototype for a device for blood testing. The goal is to create a device that can be used by producers so they can determine the health of their animals while doing other things, such as branding or vaccinating.

“It could potentially be simple enough for anybody to use and quick enough so that it can just be that chute-side rapid test,” he says.

They are working in areas of the country with the highest risk: Manitoba and south-central B.C. Manitoba was picked because of the historical context of the disease in the province. Southern B.C. was selected because they have seen misdiagnosed cases there.

“We don’t necessarily suspect that there will be Anaplasma marginale there,” Dergousoff says. “You can always be surprised, but they may be very useful samples to use in the development of our test if there’s a bacteria present there that’s very similar that we want to exclude from the test.”

The timeline for this project is less concrete — there are many things to accomplish before it can become commercially available. Dergousoff says he hopes to have a prototype in the next few years.

Anaplasmosis impact

Though anaplasmosis is a disease not many think about and was removed in 2014 from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s list of federally reportable diseases, it should still be on people’s radar.

“Sometimes the risk might be low, but also those things change over time. We’re seeing changes in the distribution of the ticks that can transmit this,” Dergousoff says.

Factors such as the number of ticks and flies are subject to change, which is why research like this is important.

Knowing about this issue is also important because that knowledge can help with prevention.

“Awareness is a big issue, because then we could take measures to maybe prevent these things before they become a big issue,” Dergousoff says. “So if we understand these things ahead of time, especially if we have a good, even better test … those kinds of things will help things from becoming a much larger issue over time.”

Rochon says while anaplasmosis isn’t currently an issue, that doesn’t mean producers shouldn’t be aware of what it is and what the effect might be.

“These little things can have an impact. And the little decisions sometimes can lead to problems that you don’t necessarily notice right away. And so I think being aware that this is something that is in Canada and might be becoming more prevalent, we don’t know.”

Dergousoff says they are currently looking for more producers in Manitoba and in southern B.C. to get involved in their research, to look at the risk and potential presence of anaplasmosis in the area. Data from B.C., specifically, would help them determine what other bacteria are confusing current diagnostic tests and eliminate them from their tests. There is financial compensation for involvement in the study.

If there is a positive test on an operation, researchers will notify the local vet and chief veterinary officer for the province. After a case of anaplasmosis is reported, the chief veterinary officer usually doesn’t require disease control measures. However, they may provide information and diagnostic support to help herd owners manage the infection and reduce the risk of spreading to other herds.

“It’s important to recognize these cases so we know what’s going on. But it’s also important to support the producers,” Dergousoff says.

The post Manitoba tick study focuses on testing, other carriers for anaplasmosis appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Ian Steppler, president of the Manitoba Beekeepers Association, said Manitoba’s losses this year are extremely high.

“We’re nearly at a 60 per cent loss right across Manitoba right now, the highest loss in Canada by at least five per cent,” he said.

The conversation over decline in honey bee numbers is not new. Entomologists have been talking about colony collapse disorder for decades. It’s an important topic not only for beekeepers but for farmers who rely upon the insects as natural pollinators. Another year of significant losses brings the subject to the forefront once again.

Steppler was one of three experts who gathered for an online discussion about the pollinator situation in the province. He was joined by Dr. Rob Currie, a professor and head of the University of Manitoba’s entomology department who specializes in honey bees, and Dr. Jason Gibbs, an associate professor in the entomology department, whose expertise lies in native bee species.

Predator

The oft-cited villain of honeybee colony losses is the varroa mite. A varroa mite infestation occurs when a female mite enters a honey bee brood cell. The mite lays eggs on the larva. When the bee emerges after pupation, the varroa mites also leave and spread to other bees and larvae.

“It’s a very large mite, not unlike a wood tick,” Currie said.

From the bee’s perspective, “it’s the equivalent of having a wood tick the size of a dinner plate on your body.”

While there are a number of factors that play into colony losses, such as nutrition, environment, climate and pesticides, the varroa mite is the number one culprit when it comes to colony losses.

“It’s kind of like the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Currie said. “If you could eliminate the mite from the equation, you wouldn’t necessarily eliminate the problem, but I think it would greatly improve our ability to manage bees successfully.”

Before the varroa mite became prevalent in Manitoba, there was occasionally poor colony survival and the odd disaster, but nothing like what’s been seen since the mite came on to the scene in Canada in the early 1990s.

Other issues

Nevertheless, other stressors also have an impact.

“You can’t always pin it down to one thing for all producers,” Currie said. “One producer might have a mite problem, another might have a nutrition problem, and another might have a feed problem. The environment is something we can’t control. But it definitely kicks us in the head every once in a while.”

Steppler, a beekeeper who runs a 1,200–1,500 hive apiary on his family’s 3,500 acre farm near Miami, agrees that varroa mites are a problem but this year’s colony losses were much worse than a normal year. The reasons stem from the hot, dry summer of 2021.

The drought that spanned the Prairies saw wildfires fill the air with smoke, which created a stressful environment for bees. Steppler speculates that the drought led to plants providing less nutrition to the bees so they were malnourished as they transitioned into winter. And just as the bees were settling into winter, the climate dealt another blow.

“If you drove across the countryside in Manitoba in October, we had fields of canola in full bloom. We had more flowers in October than we actually had in July because of the drought,” he said, nothing that late flowering reignited the colonies.

“They actually started transitioning out of those winter nests back into almost a summertime nest and they began brooding up again,” Steppler said, and that process allowed varroa mites to re-establish as well. The cold spring of 2022 didn’t help matters.

“It’s almost like beekeepers got kicked and were on the ground when Mother Nature came and gave them another hoof to the gut again just to finish them off,” he said.

Native bees

When most people think of bees, they think of honey bees or bumblebees. But Gibbs points out there are more than 20,000 species of bees of which 250 are bumblebees and about nine are honey bees. And honey bees behave differently than most species.

“A very typical bee would be solitary,” Gibbs said. “They don’t have colonies at all. There’s no queens or workers, just a single female.”

He says as many as 70 per cent nest in the ground. Most people, if they noticed at all, might mistake it for an ant’s nest. Most bee species are indifferent to humans and they don’t sting.

“They’ll completely ignore you. And most of us go through our entire lives without noticing them at all,” said Gibbs.

Nevertheless, native bees are also under pressure and it’s even more concerning because they don’t have human benefactors working to replenish losses.

“Some native bumblebees have undergone pronounced declines in the last two decades and are even ranked on endangered species lists,” Gibbs said, citing the rusty-patch bumblebee as an example. And while they can still be found in Manitoba, the yellow-banded bumblebee has become a species of conservation concern over that same period.

Gibbs said there is simply not enough data to say with confidence that the status of native bee species has changed. This is partially due to challenges in identifying them and sparse historical records.

“My students and I recently rediscovered a bee in Manitoba, Epeoloides pilosulus, which hadn’t been collected in Manitoba in 95 years,” he said. “This species has been ranked as endangered but it’s hard to say what its populations have been doing in the last century with records so few and far between.”

The reasons for population declines in native bees are also different from those for honey bees. For one thing, they are not susceptible to varroa mite infestations. However, declines in native bee species are actually a much bigger problem.

“The concerns regarding native bees are often much greater than those regarding honey bees,” Gibbs said. “Honey bees in North America are not native, so annual losses are an economic concern but not an ecological one.”

For native bees, the changing landscape is the most important driver for population losses.

“Some bees are specialists. They’ll only visit willows or they’ll only visit sunflowers,” he said.

As a result, their livelihood is heavily reliant on diversity in the landscape.

The lack of ecological diversity caused by monoculture agriculture, amplified by modern agricultural tools and chemicals, is often blamed for declines in both native and honey bee populations.

Because he straddles the line between crop/cattle farmer and beekeeper, Steppler has a nuanced approach to this argument.

“We use all these technologies on our farm also,” said Steppler. “I won’t say GM technology or Roundup Ready technology is killing the bees. I’d say more so, it’s that GM and Roundup Ready technology are stripping the landscape of diversity.”

Steppler is trying to strike a balance on his farm to address that biodiversity deficit while remaining profitable and productive.

“We need these efficiencies and these technologies, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t focus on little things that contribute to what we’re lacking,” he said.

Some of those “little things” include planting flowers in ditches for the bees, or sprinkling clover, which has nutritious pollen and high yielding nectar, in pastures where cattle feed.

“The cows eat the grass first, and then they munch on the clover,” Steppler said. “We rotate them out, get a rain and the clover regenerates.”

This rotation gives the bees an opportunity to constantly feed on the clover.

“It doesn’t provide enough for a crop, but it provides enough nutrition for the bees to be able to maintain and develop themselves.”

On the research end of things, Currie said he hopes to come up with diagnostic tools that will help beekeepers identify the causes of colony loss. Researchers are also working on breeding bees to better deal with stressors.

“We’re trying to create locally adapted stock that’s really well suited to our conditions that has resistance to some of these pests and parasites that we find inside the hives.”

The post Another bad season for bees appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Although this availability of paste and gel dewormers does seem ideal, the traditional practices of deworming horses at regular intervals have contributed to a shotgun approach to deworming horses that may no longer be a reasonable nor sustainable practice in equine parasite control programs.

In the mid-’80s something very significant happened in the horse world and that was the introduction of a highly effective chemical dewormer called ivermectin. Ivermectin could be safely and easily administered orally by the horse owner themselves. Prior to this time a veterinary visit was required to administer the older classes of dewormers which were caustic to the esophagus and thus were only suitable to be delivered by nasogastric entubation. Other anthelmintic manufacturers soon followed suit with paste and gel formulations rapidly growing in popularity and becoming widely used by horse owners.

Something significant also happened in the world of the equine internal parasites at the same time as well. When chemical dewormers were first introduced, the most common and troublesome internal parasite of the horse was the large Strongyles (Strongylus vulgaris) and bloodworm.

The larval stage of this parasite set up housing in the blood vessels of the horse’s body. Due to the parasite’s predilection for the vascular sites of the horse’s intestinal tract, bloodworm infestation was a significant cause of colic in horses, often with life-threatening consequences. It was the population of egg-laying adults in the intestinal tract that ivermectin was originally targeted to remove. At the time it was determined that egg reappearance in the feces occurred approximately two months after an ivermectin deworming and thus the original recommendations for deworming horses every two months was set in motion.

This deworming strategy was highly effective, reducing the incidence of disease related to the large Strongyles bloodworm so much so that the dreaded colic associated with infestation is currently a very rare occurrence. However, like a game of chess, the parasites have themselves responded and rallied with their own adaptive strategies. With selection against the large Strongyles other species of internal parasites such as the small Strongyles or cyathostomins, roundworms and tapeworms began to fill the ecological niche previously held by the bloodworm.

In addition there have been individual parasites that have inadvertently survived the deworming process. These individuals then pass their adaptive genetic information for resistance to the deworming products along their genetic lines. And so the populations of problematic species of internal parasites in the horse as well as their vulnerabilities to deworming products have shifted over the last 30 years. Thus original recommendations for deworming horses at the regular two-month intervals is outdated and blanket recommendations for deworming horses is no longer applicable in nearly every population of horses.

Therefore recommendations for employing deworming products in parasite control programs must also evolve in response to the adaptive strategies of the internal parasite populations and the new information regarding host-parasite dynamics. Currently the best measure for targeted decision-making comes from the information derived from the fecal egg count (FEC) test which determines the level of shedding of parasite eggs in an individual horse’s manure. Testing involves collecting a manure sample from the horse and submission of the sample to a veterinary laboratory which can then calculate the number and type of parasite eggs per gram of feces.

The numbers generated from each horse will generally place the horse in one of three categories. Low shedders pass no more than 200 eggs per gram of feces; moderate shedders pass 200 to 500 eggs per gram; and high shedders pass 500 or more eggs per gram. It is interesting to note that once a mature horse has been tested several times to determine its shedding status, the individual’s classification is unlikely to change as the horse will consistently repeat the same level of shedding.

This information can then be used to determine:

• Whether or not deworming is even warranted;
• The optimal timing for deworming; and
• The type of deworming product to be used.

In order to determine the effectiveness of the deworming product used it will be necessary to perform and compare the results of a second fecal egg count 10 to 14 days after deworming. Effective products reduce the parasite egg output in the feces by 90 to 95 per cent.

This testing procedure is known as the fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) and is used to determine if the deworming products are working. Introducing this step can reduce drug resistance, increase product effectiveness and minimize exposure to chemicals by only treating horses with moderate to high parasite burdens. Ineffective deworming products not only amplify the intensity of the resistance in parasite populations they are economically draining and create a false sense of proper parasite management.

It is now recommended that deworming treatments include the individual horse’s parasite burden and needs as determined by the FEC test. Horses with low shedding rates may not require deworming. Treatment programs are no longer intended to totally annihilate parasite populations from the horse as this is not only impractical it is also based on the flawed assumption that parasite infestations are entirely harmful. Within acceptable parameters parasite infestations seem to provide the horse with a favourable “street immunity.”

Further advice regarding targeted use of deworming products can be obtained from your veterinarian who will be familiar with the FEC testing procedure/s and the horse’s environment.

The post Shwetz: The evolution of deworming strategies in the horse appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Scott Atkins, Manitoba territory manager with Boehringer Ingelheim, took to Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives near Brandon April 18 to pitch his company’s extended-release parasiticide, LongRange, marketed for cattle in the pasture.

“The big difference in this product over stuff that’s on the market is the duration that the product is actually effective, running up to 120 to 150 days, over current products being used, where the residual is 21 to 28 days,” Atkins said. “The other big differentiating factor is that it is a slow release that has a second bump, a very big cleanout, at 75 to 80 days.”

The product owes the longer release to what the company has termed Theraphase formulation, technology that causes the parasiticide to gel when exposed to the water in the subcutaneous tissue under the skin. The gel then lingers under the skin, providing a slow release of the product’s active ingredient, eprinomectin, which targets invertebrate nerve and muscle cells. The gel dissolves completely mid-season, giving the second boost in control.

Timing is everything

The company argues that the second bump coincides with the high-risk period when pasture parasite load is at its peak.

Eggs, and therefore, infection risk, are rampant in the field in July and August, clinging to the same vegetation that cattle eat, attendees heard April 18.

In comparison, cattle at turnout may be relatively clean of parasites, having had the parasites cycle through during winter, but with less chance of ingesting the eggs and starting a new cycle in the feedlot, the room heard.

“I think for sure the best opportunity is going to be for yearling cattle going out to grass and for calves out on grass,” Atkins said. “That’s the main economic benefit places where I see it fitting.”

Both calf and yearling value increases significantly with additional weight gain, he said, something far easier to accomplish if cattle are feeding only themselves rather than a colony of parasites on the side. The product can be used in cows, attendees were told, although farmers may see limited returns since those animals are not being primed for sale and will be largely cleaned out again come winter anyway. An exception should be made for new or replacement animals coming onto the farm, which should likely be treated, he said.

LongRange is registered for internal parasites, grubs and mites, but it will do nothing to solve Manitoba’s liver fluke problems, Atkins admitted; nor is it registered for lice or external parasites.

Likewise, Boehringer Ingelheim warns that the product’s environmental impact has not been tested in intense rotational grazing, and anyone managing their herd that way should pass over the product. Feedlots should also look elsewhere since no environmental impact has been done in that setting either.

“That’s always a concern, about things that persist in the environment,” Minnedosa veterinarian Dr. Troy Gowan said. “Obviously we want to make sure that we don’t have any issues with run-off, drug residues in run-off, and things like that, but since it’s used primarily as a pasture product, the risks of that are relatively low. That’s where using it in a feedlot situation may not be advisable, because there is a greater chance that you’re going to have environmental residues and you have a very confined area that you’re having everything shed into.”

Atkins maintained that trials using the product have not noted any medium- or long-term impact on manure-dependent insect or invertebrate populations.

The product should not be applied any more than once every six months to avoid residue limits, although Atkins noted that is mostly a moot point, since Manitoba’s grazing season generally falls in that range and the product is only used for cows in pasture.

Likewise, cattle cannot be slaughtered for food within 120 days of treatment and the product should not be used on any calves bound for veal or any dairy animal older than 20 months.

Local adoption?

Other places in Canada may find more use for the product than Manitoba, Gowan said.

The local veterinarian noted potential problems with using LongRange with smaller herds, as well as the province’s relative lack of feeder operations.

The slow-release mechanism, while extending the product’s efficacy, also prevents storing used product. The formula is reactive to water to the point that the company provides new needles to avoid issues with water gathered in scratches in used barrels. Likewise, the company advises that a bottle should be used completely once the seal is broken.

Atkins estimates that a 250-millilitre bottle will cover 80 spring-born calves. The product’s label sets dosage at one cubic centimetre (cc) for every 50 kilograms.

“If you have 50 head of cattle, then it might not fit in with that sort of situation,” Gowan said. “Now, if you have 300, then that’s a bit different. We don’t have a lot of feeder operations. Our area is more cow-calf, that sort of thing, so it creates a different situation than, maybe, what the product’s strictly intended for.”

Gowan pegged the product for possible use in calves, assuming they meet the three-month minimum age at turnout. His few feeder operations will fit with the product, he said, but he agreed that there might be little economic benefit in dosing older animals, since larger size would make treatment cost prohibitive.

“There’s certain circumstances where it would make a lot of sense to use it, but it’s a fairly new product and finding where it would work the best is difficult,” Gowan said. “Also, with the volumes that you have to purchase and everything else, it won’t work in certain situations because you have to use it, ideally, all at once.”

Gowan does not use the product as of yet, but is considering it for his clients.

The post New product promises better parasite control appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is it’s only a matter of time until they are, says University of Manitoba soil scientist Mario Tenuta. But early detection will help farmers manage it.

The search for the small, soil-borne, worm-like parasites that can dramatically reduce soybean yields has been on in this province since 2013. They might already be here.

Farmers can learn more about soybean cyst nematodes, including what they look like and how to search for them, July 22 at the Soybean Management & Research Transfer (SMART) Day at the University of Manitoba’s Ian N. Morrison Research Farm at Carman. Attendance is free but farmers must register by July 17 (register by clicking here).

Soil samples taken last fall from Manitoba fields contained some nematodes but DNA testing just completed last week revealed they are not the destructive soybean cyst nematode, Tenuta said in an interview July 10.

“We are continuing with more sampling this year,” he said.

“We are targeting fields that have had soybeans in them more than three years.”

Most soil nematodes are good, helping in the nutrient cycle, among other things, Tenuta said

Soybean cyst nematodes, which are harmful to soybeans, are close by in Minnesota and North Dakota. Meanwhile, Manitoba with 1.3 million acres of soybeans and growing is a perfect place for the pest to thrive.

Just as with clubroot in canola, detecting soybean cyst nematodes early is key to managing them. The trouble is when their numbers are low, symptoms are hard to spot and can be easily confused with other root-related problems, including root rot and water-saturated soils.

“Often by the time they are found in a field populations have built up and are causing 20 to 30 per cent loss in yield,” Tenuta said. “This is why we are being fairly aggressive in our outreach to growers for learning about soybean cyst nematodes because we want to find the nematodes before they cause 20 or 30 per cent yield losses.”

Symptoms to watch for include patches of smaller plants, chlorosis and reduced yields.

“It’s a challenge to diagnose,” Tenuta said. “A trained person can dig the roots and that’s what we want to show people July 22 to see what they would look like and how to do it.”

Once soybean cyst nematodes have been found in a field they can be managed through crop rotation, growing resistant varieties, and in the near future, applying nematicides, he said.

Other plants, including edible beans, can serve as hosts as can certain weeds, including shepherd’s purse. Resistant varieties can also break down over time, Tenuta added.

“We may have to use a combination of rotation, resistant varieties and nematicides,” he said.

As soybean cyst nematodes’ populations build in a field the more potential for yield losses. However, the damage can vary with soil type and weather conditions.

“Because they affect the function of the root system in years that are dry the disease symptoms and yield loss will manifest more,” Tenuta said. “If you’re on a soil that is much more well drained or has lower water-holding capacity such as lighter soils the disease will show up in those fields earlier. With the same number of nematodes in a wet year or in a clay field you might not see a measurable yield reduction. But the pest could be building in numbers and then in a year that is dry you could have severe losses.”

Soybean cyst nematodes, like clubroot in canola, move in the soil. They can move on soil in the air and water, on animals, including the feet of migratory birds, on vehicles and farm equipment.

“Field equipment with soil on it is really, really an efficient way to move soybean cyst nematodes around,” Tenuta said. “Bringing in equipment from the United States that hasn’t been washed and sanitized is not a good idea. And in Manitoba it could move between fields that way. I understand the work it would take to clean equipment between fields in the busy seasons, but we do have to keep this in mind.”

The SMART Day, which runs from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., also includes trials on residue management, strip tillage, controlling Roundup Ready volunteer canola, phosphorus fertilization and inoculation strategies.

The post On the lookout for soybean cyst nematodes appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

As part of his presentation at Manitoba Potato Production Days in Brandon in January, Bisht issued a call to action to potato growers to stay ahead of the curve in implementing biosecurity management strategies on their farms.

Bisht says potato wart, potato cyst nematode, bacterial wilt (or brown rot) and bacterial ring rot are all diseases of concern to Manitoba potato growers in 2015. Manitoba pathologists are especially concerned about necrotic viruses and bacterial ring rot. For several years, Manitoba had been free of bacterial ring rot, but the disease has recently been discovered in the province.

Bisht says the slime of the bacteria is hard to eradicate once present on the farm — though the disease has a good chance of survival in live potato tissue, it can also survive for many years in dried “biofilms” on surfaces.

“It can dry on equipment, trucks, and walls of storages, so it survives for a long time, and the losses can be pretty severe.”

Bacterial ring rot is a federally regulated disease for seed potato crops, which means that once discovered in a seed crop, the entire crop is written off for seed. “For a seed grower, it can be devastating. If confirmed by CFIA in one or two tests, the seed crop becomes a non-seed crop,” Bisht says.

And because seed potatoes and process potatoes are stored at different temperatures, non-seed potatoes aren’t easily sold even to pro-cessors.

Bioexclusion and biocontainment

Once the disease is confirmed on an operation the grower must clean and sanitize the entire operation in the presence of an inspector.

Farm-level biosecurity measures can help growers mitigate the risk posed by devastating diseases such as bacterial ring rot, Bisht says. Biosecurity measures fit into two categories: bioexclusion, which reduces the introduction of pests onto the farm, and biocontainment, which minimizes their spread.

A national farm-level biosecurity standard for potato growers has been developed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Potato Council, the Canadian Horticultural Council and the provincial Departments of Agriculture. It outlines proactive strategies for good biosecurity that growers can adapt for use on their own operations.

Key elements of good biosecurity include knowing the pests of concern in the area and identifying the pathways by which they spread, including water, soil, seed, air and common vectors. Boundaries should be protected with gates and signs, and biosecure zones should be marked.

At the beginning of the season, Bisht says, all equipment, storages and seed cutters should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. During the season, vehicles, equipment and shoes should be checked for soil residue between fields. Pesticides should be used as needed.

Cull piles are a significant source for disease inoculum development and spread, but they can be relatively easily — and inexpensively — managed. “I would emphasize the management of cull piles as an important biosecurity measure growers can take,” Bisht says.

In Manitoba, growers are ahead of the curve in implementing good biosecurity systems on their operations. “The greater the potential loss, the greater the need for biosecurity measures,” he says.

Canola and corn diseases can also affect potatoes

Grower-led Pest Surveillance Initiative with Canola Growers and MAFRD
MAFRD plant pathologist Vikram Bisht says potato growers should also be aware of important non-potato diseases that might affect other crops in the rotation, such as soybean cyst nematode, canola clubroot and verticillium wilt.

“Canola and corn and other crops are part of the rotation. The movement of soil with any crop can create issues for the other crops in rotation,” he says.

In Manitoba, a grower-led effort called the Pest Surveillance Initiative (PSI) is a recent joint project of the Manitoba Canola Growers Association and MAFRD, with funding from the Growing Actions plan of Growing Forward 2. PSI is focusing on developing technologies for the “molecular” detection of low levels of clubroot in the province.

This spring, sampling will resume for growers interested in testing fields for low levels of club-root bacteria.

“This is a very good initiative that will help our province,” says Bisht.

Support for integrated biosecurity measures at every level — from the farm to federal agencies — is crucial for success, Bisht says. Federal and provincial agencies, as well as researchers, agronomists and certified crop advisers must work together to minimize the spread of pests.

The post Biosecurity measures key to combating crop diseases appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The federal and provincial governments and Sheep Producers Association of Nova Scotia (SPANS) recently rolled out a Sheep Handling and Parasite Control Program, which will pay up to 40 per cent of eligible costs, up to $750 per application.

The program will reimburse producers for setting up gates and handling crates, which the governments said will create safer handling systems to improve monitoring and reduce stress.

The funding is also to go toward fences and handling equipment, “reducing the risk of parasites affecting a flock.”

“Through a project supported by government we were able to identify management options to improve health and welfare of the animals,” SPANS president Beth Densmore said in a provincial release.

“Clean pastures are a must, especially for lambs. Rotational grazing helps keep animals healthy and by supporting the handling equipment, shepherds as well as sheep are under less stress.”

Agriculture Minister Keith Colwell, announcing the program Dec. 22 at Dalhousie University’s agricultural campus, said the plan came about after he “challenged” SPANS “to come up with a program that would meet the needs of the industry.”

Over 300 registered farmers raise sheep in the province. Farmers applying for program funds must have a valid farm registration and must be checkoff-paying registered members of SPANS at the time of application.

Program applications, available online through SPANS, must be completed by Jan. 16.

The federal/provincial Building Industry Capacity program under Growing Forward 2 will provide SPANS with $29,700, while the industry will put up $44,550, the governments said. –– AGCanada.com Network

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The mites feed on the blood (hemolymph) of grasshoppers. They also prey on grasshopper eggs. Each female mite can lay up to 4,000 eggs, providing mite populations the potential to increase rapidly and substantially as grasshopper populations increase.

Research in Montana has shown that these mites can reduce the survival and reproduction of grasshoppers. Red mites are fairly common this year, Gavloski said.

• More from the Manitoba Co-operator: Time to scout sunflower fields

Lionel Kaskiw, MAFRD’s farm production advisor based in Souris, said one in seven or 10 of the grasshoppers he saw recently in a sunflower field last week had the mites. This particular field had a high number of feeding grasshoppers on its edges. Gavloski said it doesn’t usually pay to spray grasshoppers in sunflowers until there is at least 25 per cent defoliation.

The post Invasion of the body snatchers appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Highlights

• Flea beetle numbers are starting to decline, and cutworms are advancing into their final larval stages or starting to turn to pupae.

• Grasshoppers hatch continues, check field edges and other suitable egg-laying areas to determine levels.

• Counts of adult diamondback moth high in some traps in the Eastern part of Manitoba; still no reports of larvae.

• Traps for diamondback moth can be removed after counts done this week; scouting should then focus on looking for larvae.

• Fusarium risk maps are now on MAFRI website.

The report, as well as MAFRI’s crop, crop production and weather reports are also available through Crop Chatter, where producers and agronomists can also post questions about crop development or pest and idease issues.

The post MAFRI pest and disease report for June 25 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

My husband decided to put a really hot cardboard pizza box on my brand new solid wood table. I removed the thin tablecloth off of the table to shake out the crumbs and found a white square imprint. After trying to figure out what it was and using some Pledge with natural orange oil, I soon remembered the wonderful pizza we had a few days prior and figured out that this is a heat spot on my table. Help! Is there anything I can do to fix this? Sincerely, Christine

Dear Christine,

Place a tea towel onto the area and press with a warm iron over the pizza box spot. The warmth of the iron should draw out the mark.

Dear Reena,

I have the most embarrassing situation; my kids came home from school with lice! I feel like a terrible housewife and mother and now I am taking on the dubious task of getting rid of it. If I freeze all of the clothes and pillows and teddy bears will that kill all of the lice? Signed, Elaine

Dear Elaine,

First of all rest assured, it is a myth that lice only attach to dirty areas. They can make their homes on very clean heads. Although lice are a pain, there are much worse challenges in life. However, be prepared for an in-depth cleaning of your house. Vacuum everything and when you are finished, discard the vacuum bag outside of your home. Be sure to vacuum mattresses, vents, and all crevices in furniture, as well as your vehicles. You can purchase sprays to kill lice but they are expensive and carry a strong odour. Sprays do come in handy for non-washable textiles.

Myth No. 2, freezing kills lice. When you put lice outside, they go into a hibernating state and wake up when they are back at room temperature. Therefore, instead of carrying items outside, place teddy bears, jackets, blankets etc. into large plastic bags, close tightly and leave at room temperature for two weeks. Wash everything that can be washed in your washing machine each day until the problem is gone. Throw pillows and blankets into the dryer daily; the heat of the dryer kills lice.

Use lice shampoo according to directions and on all members living in the house, not just the kids. Check with your physician about shampooing babies. By shampooing everyone, you will save yourself a lot of headache for future outbreaks. Check all heads every day for two weeks near a window or under fluorescent lights.

Put all hair utensils in the dishwasher every day. Wash all tuques, scarves, mitts, area rugs, towels. Do not reuse towels and do not hang towels beside other towels.

Soon this problem will be gone. Neem shampoo is a great deterrent of lice. Hairspray in the hair, length of hair and cleanliness of hair do not make a difference. However, for young boys if you shave their head, lice are easier to see. Lice are non-transferable to pets.

Hello Reena,

I have a tall, clear, single-stem glass vase and I have been unable to remove etched cloudy water marks on the inside. I have tried everything from baking soda, salt, vinegar, denture tablets, with no success. Any ideas? Eunice

Dear Eunice,

When you used vinegar, did you heat the vinegar first? Soaking the vase with hot vinegar and then gently rubbing the surface with fine 000 sandpaper is a good solution for slightly etched glass. You can also soak the vase in hot water and citric acid (available at your local pharmacy, you may need to order it in). If the etching remains, the condition is permanent. Also see tip below.

Fabulous tips of the week:

• Hi Reena,

I thought I would take a minute and send you a tip that my daughter learned while working in the restaurant business. If you want to “refresh” seldom-used glassware or crystal which has developed a slight film while sitting in the cupboard, but is not dirty, just hold the piece over the mouth of a steaming kettle, and polish quickly and easily with a paper coffee filter. Your glassware will sparkle again! Love your column, Reena! Frances

•   When I was newly married and preparing to decorate cakes, I often beat whipping cream too long and noticed that after a while it turned into a lumpy mess. Not knowing that I had made butter I threw out the mess and started again. After a few years I learned that overwhipping the cream transforms it into a delicious bowl of homemade butter. Now when I have guests over I love to serve homemade butter. For anyone with the same desire, here’s how to make butter from scratch: Purchase whipping cream and add a pinch of salt so that it tastes less bland. Pour the cream into your food processor and let it run for a while until it thickens. It will then break into liquid buttermilk and butter. From here, you are able to separate the butter from the milk and use the fresh butter to spread. Reena
• Make fancy butter shapes just like restaurants! Using soft butter, fill up chocolate moulds or silicone moulds. Make sure that the top is smooth and even. Place butter into the freezer for one hour. Pop butter out of the mould and store in fridge until guests arrive. Serve on a silver platter. Flower shapes such as roses are very popular.

I enjoy your questions and tips, keep them coming! Missed a column? Can’t remember a solution? Need a speaker for an upcoming event? Interested in grocery coupons? Check out my brand new blog/website: reena.ca.

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