LEDUC, Alta. – As manager of agricultural services with Leduc County, Curtis Henkelmann has seen first-hand the devastation clubroot can cause once a field becomes infected.
Instead of thick, strong stands of canola, the field will contain plants that look wilted, yellow and stunted. What initially looks like a 50 bushel canola crop becomes 10 and barely worth harvesting.
Clubroot is a soil borne disease that infects canola, forming clubs on the roots that cut off nutrient uptake. A crop expected to bring in close to $100,000 will be lucky to fetch $15,000 once it’s infected.
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Clubroot has been discovered in at least 12 Alberta counties. It is most prominent in the fertile farmland around Edmonton and could devastate the province’s $3.2 billion canola industry.
In Leduc County, where Henkelmann works and farms, clubroot has become a serious problem.
Inspectors have confirmed the disease in 70 of the 476 fields inspected and know they will find more infected fields this summer when symptoms start to show in new canola fields.
Once clubroot is discovered in a Leduc County field, the farmer is prohibited from growing canola on that land for five years in an attempt to slow the disease’s spread.
In the County of Wetaskiwin, farmers are not allowed to grow canola in infected fields for four to seven years depending on the severity of the infection.
Henkelmann doesn’t have clubroot on his Leduc farm, doesn’t want it and is willing to spend a couple hours between fields cleaning equipment so he doesn’t get it.
He said cleaning equipment between fields is the only way to stop the disease from spreading. Clubroot spores are usually transferred between fields on clumps of soil clinging to seeding equipment, fertilizer applicators, combines and shovels used to take soil samples.
“If a farmer had a $100,000 car they’d probably wash it. To spend a little bit of time washing equipment off isn’t going to kill anybody.”
Henkelmann has grouped connecting fields together to simplify the job of cleaning. He’ll seed the adjoining fields before taking the equipment home to wash.
Before leaving a field, Henkelmann knocks off large soil clumps clinging to the equipment so they won’t drop on gravel roads and potentially spread the disease to neighbouring fields. He also recommended keeping a diary to document where the equipment has travelled and who has entered the field. By doing this, farmers ensure there will be a trail to follow if clubroot shows up.
Once the equipment is home, Henkelmann parks the seeding equipment on a grassy area for cleaning.
“The key is keeping it on the grass and not dragging a bunch of mud around. Washing it in the field is kind of pointless,” he said.
Using a high-powered air compressor, similar to what is used to run jack hammers, Henkelmann blows dirt and dust off the tractor, tires, drawbar, each seed opener, hose and grain cart.
He then uses a fire hose connected to an old sprayer tank to blast the remaining dirt off the equipment. A one to two percent solution of household bleach is added to disinfect the equipment.
“It’s pretty basic.”
While Henkelmann believes cleaning equipment is an important prevention practice, he doesn’t know how many farmers in areas infected with clubroot are willing to do the extra work during the busy seeding season.
Cleaning equipment takes about two hours.
“You’re not going to get it all, but at least you’re going to get the majority of it.”
Leduc farmer Alan Halwa has become extra vigilant about cleaning equipment when leaving fields that have been confirmed with clubroot.
“I’m extra careful. I’m hoping it will prevent the spread by my mechanical means,” he said.
“I can’t control the wind and water, but I can do my share.”
This spring’s dry weather has made equipment cleanup easier. A hammer and broom will get most soil off the equipment without much trouble.
“Last year was really hard because of the wet,” Halwa said.
“This year the equipment is coming off the field pretty clean. There’s not a lot of earth tag on it.”
