Peace River farmers already reeling from too much rain, poor crops and bad weather are being hit with another crop disaster.
The worst outbreak of bertha army worms since the 1970s is ruining canola, the only crop worth any money, said John Huffman, crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture in Grande Prairie.
“There is a significant yield loss. Half the pods are already chewed,” said Huffman.
The worst area is in the central Peace, north of the Saddle and Birch Hills and south of the Peace River in a band running from Falher east to the British Columbia border.
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There are also hot spots in Fairview, Whitelaw, Berwyn, Manning, Deadwood, High Level and La Crete.
The worm starts eating the canola leaves, but as the leaves drop off, the worm moves up the plant and chews on the pod, reducing yield. The worms can cause a half to three-quarters of a bushel loss per acre a day in the fields which are still 10 days to two weeks away from swathing.
The worms can reduce yield by about eight bushels per acre on the already poor canola crop. Much of the crop was seeded late and suffered from excess moisture throughout the season.
Huffman estimates about 20,000 acres have already been sprayed in the central Peace.
The worms have grown to epidemic proportions because deep snow cover during the last few years prevented the ground from freezing and killing the eggs. There were signs last year that an outbreak could occur this year, he said.
“We were expecting an outbreak of some kind. We were surprised at how intensive the outbreak really is.”
The only natural control is natural disaster, like snow, within the next few days.
“I don’t know what’s worse, having to spray for these things or a snow in August. Barring an environmental catastrophe we can expect them to be just as bad next year,” said Huffman.
