A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) and the Ministry of Rural Affairs (MRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 5pm. For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAF website: www.ontario.ca/omaf and/or the MRA website: www.ontario.ca/mra
WHAT PESTS TO EXPECT FOR 2014
by Tracey Baute
Many people are assuming that pests won’t be a problem this year given the long and very cold winter we had. Though overall there could be a reduction in pest populations, this is not necessarily true for all of our key pests.
Insects have three main strategies for dealing with winter:
– migration to southern U.S. states;
– avoiding the freezing temps (moving below the frost line in soil or going indoors to overwinter); and
– tolerating freezing temperatures (having anti-freeze compounds in their system to prevent cells from freezing and bursting).
Both wireworms and grubs know enough to move down deep below the frost line. This year was the first year (that I’ve experienced) where there were reports of “frost quakes” taking place. That tells me that it got quite cold, deeper down than usual. But snow cover can also play a big role in keeping these soil pests insulated and there was a lot of snow cover in some regions. Overall, I expect wireworms and grubs have done okay for the most part this winter.
Other pests like bean leaf beetle, flea beetles and slugs overwinter closer to the soil surface and may have had a harder time dealing with this winter, especially if snow cover was minimal when we experienced the polar vortex events. They likely took more of a hit. Unfortunately, parasitoids and predators likely have too since they are also usually close to or above the soil surface for winter. Some ladybugs move indoors and will have done well.
Predicting which pests are going to be a concern each year is difficult. If it is a cool wet spring, soil pests do well. It is up to growers to do their best in good weed control prior to planting and to make sure to plant in good soil conditions so that the seed germinates and the plants grow quickly to avoid much of the feeding damage.
COMING EVENTS
April 23: Ontario Invasive Plants Webinar, Reed Canary Grass. 12 – 1pm.
April 29: The Eramosa 4-H Dairy club first meeting at the farm of Charles and Mary Fraser at 7:30pm. Their address is 7711 2nd Line, Elora. For more info contact Jason French 519-831-4359
