Everything that could go wrong for late-seeded field peas has gone wrong, said Terry Buss, pulses and special crops specialist for Alberta Agriculture in Vermilion.
Unusually humid August weather in northeastern Alberta has brought on bad cases of stem rot and fungus, which slowly strangle the life out of the plants.
“It’s rotting the heck out of everything,” said Buss.
Because stem rot slowly cuts off the water line to the plant, the seed slowly dries up, devastating a promising crop.
“It’s a pretty dramatic loss. It cuts off the water to the crop and it wilts and dies.”
The shorter, sparser stands have fewer problems, but this year’s late crops have more vine growth, producing a heavy canopy that traps moisture, creating conditions perfect for disease.
Buss said peas coming off the field now look good, but the longer the plants stay in the field, the more quality will be affected.
