Lots of steel moves around the Canadian Prairies and up from the U.S. Midwest.
But as Red River Valley farmers retool their farms, are they also introducing new diseases?
“Who here bought a great new header at an auction down in Nebraska?” Manitoba Agriculture crop management specialist Anastasia Kubinec asked Jan. 7 in a session at St. Jean Farm Day in the heart of the southern valley.
“Or (how about) a seeder from Alberta or a sprayer from Alberta? If you did, I hope you did clean it because it could be carrying some of these pests.”
Read Also
Powdery mildew can be combine fire risk
Dust from powdery mildew can cause fires in combines.
Kubinec urged farmers to take reasonable steps to reduce the spread of soybean cyst nematode, clubroot, blackleg and verticillium wilt, a new disease for canola in North America, when moving equipment.
Many Manitoba farmers who have started growing soybeans and corn are buying used planting equipment from nearby U.S. Midwest states such as Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. That has the potential of exposing Manitoba farms to a new set of diseases and pests that have not traditionally been a problem north of the border.
And as clubroot spreads east from Alberta, farmers need to be careful they’re not letting it leap hundreds of kilometres by hitching rides on farm equipment.
Kubinec said farmers should be especially careful with used machinery purchases from other areas.
“Make sure you get it professionally cleaned,” said Kubinec.
ed.white@producer.com
