The risk map for wheat midge stops at the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, but that doesn’t mean farmers in Wild Rose country should ignore the threat.
A biologist specializing in pests at Agriculture Canada’s cereal research centre in Winnipeg says there are no documented reports of infested fields in Alberta, but the small orange fly could easily move into that area.
“I think growers in Alberta, especially those along the border, should be quite vigilant, especially if they grew wheat last year,” said Ian Wise.
Wheat midge have been on the move since the early 1950s, when they first started feasting on Manitoba fields. They became a problem in Saskatchewan in the early 1980s and Wise said they appear to be moving quickly.
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“It seems like when it does move into an area, it moves in with a vengeance,” Wise said, adding a parasite which eats the midge usually takes a few years to catch up.
While Alberta farmers grow less wheat than their neighbors to the east, Wise said in heavier soil regions of Alberta weather conditions are generally better for midge.
“It could be even more of a problem on a yearly basis than it is in many southern parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba,” Wise said.
