Straw imported from Manitoba to feed central Alberta cattle has been
discovered to contain high levels of fusarium graminarium, a fungal
disease that could harm Alberta’s grain and livestock industry if it
gets a foothold in the province.
“In one sample 40 percent of the plants were infected,” said Doon
Pauly, an Alberta Agriculture crop specialist at the department’s call
centre in Stettler.
“The discovery of fusarium in the County of Red Deer is sending up
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alarms everywhere.”
Art Preachuk, the County of Red Deer’s agricultural fieldman, said
fusarium was found after he sampled random loads of hay and straw
brought into the county from out of province.
But with 1,100 cattle producers in the central Alberta county, Preachuk
knows he is only sampling a small number of the loads coming in.
“I’m not on a 24-hour vigil at the border,” he said.
Alberta is one of the few grain-producing areas in Western Canada and
the United States that is virtually fusarium free.
In a normal year, Alberta is able to grow enough feed for its livestock
and extra to export. Dry conditions this year have left many parts of
the province with a feed shortage and producers have had to import
grain, straw and hay from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the U.S., where
fusarium is a problem.
Preachuk is worried it won’t take long for fusarium to spread
throughout the county.
“I don’t see a way to stop it. A lot of people still don’t understand
what it’s about.”
He said he worries that farmers will spread the grain, hay, straw and
pellets on the ground and the fungus will migrate to the soil and
infect crops for years to come.
Jim Calpas, an Alberta Agriculture pest management specialist, said he
feels like a “lone evangelist” spreading the word of fusarium’s dangers.
Since spring, Calpas has been crossing the province speaking to farmers
about how devastating fusarium can be. Unlike insects or other pests
that are visible in hay and grain, farmers can’t see fusarium on the
straw. They will only see its effects in subsequent years with reduced
yields.
Calpas said corn imported from the U.S. has tested negative, while
other barley and corn has tested as high as 10 percent.
“We’re finding some very significant levels.”
Pauly said he tells farmers who plan to buy hay, straw or grain to
insist on a fusarium test before it leaves the seller’s farm.
The provincial government has announced that by Oct. 1, there will be a
zero tolerance of fusarium on seed grain coming into Alberta and
regulations will require that farmers use designated practices when
handling feed to limit the spread of fusarium.
So far, four Alberta counties and municipalities have said the
provincial policy isn’t tough enough to stop the spread of fusarium and
have declared a zero tolerance on fusarium for any feed and seed coming
into their areas.
