Better Farming – September 2016

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14 Farm News First > Better Farming September 2016
Every industry representative
Better Farming spoke with acknowl-
edged the problem of variable stands.
Improper planter setup and dry
conditions were also raised as possi-
ble contributing factors.
“Dry conditions have caused
variable size and staging of corn crops
and soybean crops out in the field,”
says Faust. “At harvest there are going
to be some challenges due to different
stages of maturity.”
Lessons learned from 2016
The headache around imposed reduc-
tions in neonic-treated seeds wasn’t
the only challenge Ontario growers
faced in 2016. Drought was top of
mind for most Ontario growers;
according to data fromWeather
INnovations Consulting LP, rainfall
since May 1 in most regions fell well
below each region’s 30-year average.
In mid-to-late July rain started to
appear, and it may be enough to save
this year’s crop from the worst of the
drought. But industry representatives
and reports from OMAFRA’s field
crop staff suggest there’s also been an
increase in yield-robbing pests
including wireworm and seedcorn
maggot.
Denys notes that seedcorn maggot is
a major problem for soybean growers
in some areas, and there’s no neonic
replacement yet that can control them.
“This year we saw once again that
when there are insects such as
seedcorn maggot present, and where
we didn’t use a seed treatment
insecticide, growers in many cases
had to replant,” says Denys. “The
government needs to acknowledge we
need seed treatment for these insects.”
Faust says there are still some kinks
to work out for growers conducting
pest assessments of their fields.
“We also learned that trapping
wireworms isn’t an exact science,”
says Faust. “We’re going to have to
apply some of those lessons to the up-
coming season if growers want to use
a neonic-treated seed because they’ll
have to do pest assessments. We
learned last year that under dry
conditions, it’s not easy to do the
wireworm trapping. The pressure is
there but it’s difficult to trap them to
complete a pest assessment.”
In addition to wireworm, seedcorn
maggot seems to be making a resur-
gence. In June, OMAFRA’s Field Crop
Report noted there had been “a few
reports of replants as a result of
seedcorn maggot feeding in some
small pockets.” The report specifically
identified pockets in Orangeville,
Teviotdale and Strathroy.
Shawn Brenneman, Eastern
Canada agronomic services manager
for Syngenta Canada, suggests it may
be in part due to growers’ higher use
of cover crops and manure.
“It’s one of those pesky pests. You
only find out after you’ve got it and
it’s started to devastate your stand,”
says Brenneman. “It’s a pest we
haven’t paid a lot of attention to in
the past but we need to understand
the risk factors going forward.”
OMAFRA’s field crop team report-
ed in July 2016 that the dry condi-
tions have been favourable for
soybean cyst nematode (SCN)
infection. For Brenneman, the biggest
challenge of 2016 has been educating
growers about SCN.
Growers have one more soybean
seed treatment option to re-
search over the coming months,
with summer 2016’s new regis-
tration of ILeVO / VOTiVO seed
treatment.
“We are pleased to bring Cana-
da’s first and only seed treatment
for Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS)
to market,” says an email state-
ment from David Kikkert, Bayer
crop and campaign marketing
manager, soybeans and pulses.
“With activity against SDS and
SCN (soybean cyst nematode),
growers can combat two major
problems, resulting in healthier,
higher-yielding soybeans.”
ILeVO / VOTiVO provides activity
on Fusarium virguliforme, the
causal agent of the syndrome, and
it also has activity against soybean
cyst nematode.
Kikkert says SDS damage
results in average yield losses of
about 20 per cent, but losses have
climbed as high as 60 per cent.
By the time syndrome damage is
identified in fall, damage is
irreversible. Most SDS-affected
fields also contain high levels of
soybean cyst nematode.
The syndrome is moving across
Ontario, and its spread is closely
related to SCN distribution, which
is largely concentrated in south-
western Ontario, according to
Bayer. This may be because root
damage caused by soybean cyst
nematodes can make plants more
vulnerable to diseases such as
SDS.
Canada has approximately five
years of trials with ILeVO / VOTi-
VO, including research demonstra-
tions on large-scale farms and in
areas such as Rodney/West Lorne
and Highgate.
Growers opting for this seed
treatment in 2017 may want to
pause to watch for an interesting
visual effect reported at emer-
gence. Word has it that the
cotyledon margins of young
soybean plants treated with ILeVO
/ VOTiVO show a slight browning
(dubbed “the halo effect”) when
sunlight conditions are right.
Bayer reports the effect is superfi-
cial, only appearing on the outer
layer of the cotyledons and soy-
beans consistently grow through
it. BF
New chemistry for 2017 to address SCN and
sudden death syndrome in soybeans
SEEDREPORT