RED DEER – Four Alberta municipalities have passed zero tolerance policies to keep fusarium out of their jurisdictions.
Ponoka, Lacombe and Stettler counties in central Alberta and the Municipal District of Spirit River in the Peace region have adopted similar policies that exceed provincial guidelines.
The annual Alberta Agriculture Service Board convention in Edmonton on Jan. 30 will hear a resolution to implement a zero tolerance policy across the province.
Last year, Alberta opted for zero tolerance on seed imports, but urged certain management practices for bedding and feed grain brought in from other provinces and the United States.
Read Also
Feeder market adds New World screwworm risk premium
Feedlots contemplate the probability of Canadian border closing to U.S. feeder cattle if parasite found in United States
Agriculture fieldman Keith Boras of Lacombe County told the Wild Rose Agricultural Producers annual meeting that zero tolerance levels may be impossible to achieve.
“Zero is a moving number as scientists are able to detect these things at lower levels,” Boras said.
“We probably should have done something differently in the terminology.”
The counties demand that all out-of-province material be tested. Anything carrying the fungus is removed or destroyed.
The counties passed stiffer rules than the provincial guidelines because they said the provincial plan did not go far enough.
All cereal grain, corn, grass hay, straw and screenings must be tested. No testing is required for Alberta-grown products.
All products must be tested at the source because the counties don’t want to quarantine them when they arrive. The counties also have the right to remove or destroy shipments that do not comply.
Each test sample must contain 200, 2.5 centimetre-long pieces of straw that include the primary node or crown tissue.
Boras said buyers should request a test before accepting shipment.
All prairie provinces have accredited laboratories capable of detecting the fungus. However, the high demand for their services has delayed results by as much as two weeks.
Employed by rural municipalities, fieldmen are responsible for enforcing the provincial pest control act. Fusarium was added to the pest list in 1999.
Counties such as Lacombe took a stand against fusarium when evidence showed that prescribed management practices were not always followed.
Complaints about grain spilled on roadsides and around railroad sidings prompted testing. In one instance, Boras tested a sample of grain dumped on a county road allowance and found it was positive for fusarium. However, there was no way of discovering where it came from or where it went.
Educating truckers and their employers has been challenging. Boras suspects they do not clean out their trucks properly and may dump leftover grain after delivering a load to a feedlot.
“We need to make sure truckers do the things they are supposed to do. Producers don’t do this,” he said.
So far the province has only found traces of the disease in a few fields, but it is determined to keep it out until a resistant grain is found, said Shaffeek Ali of Alberta Agriculture.
He said the department decided to be more pragmatic and promote prescribed management practices over zero tolerance because the livestock industry was short of feed.
“We are not saying there is no risk with feed,” Ali said.
“It’s just at a lower level and we can manage it at lower levels.”
