Your agronomy questions answered
How does flooding impact my cereal crops?
Flooding affects the crop by creating an anaerobic environment in the root zone. When soil is saturated with water, root respiration is reduced due to a lack of oxygen. In addition, such conditions favour the production and accumulation of phytotoxic compounds in plant roots and soil. All of them may damage crop growth and reduce yield potential.
Many factors play into the magnitude of flood damage on crops, including soil type, plant species, plant growth stage, temperature and duration of the stress. Most annual crops can tolerate 3 to 7 days of flood stress; however, the exact damage to the crop is difficult to predict without in-field observations. In some cases, the impact of flooding may not appear until later in season. Find tips in scouting and managing flood in this article.
Managing Crops for Excess Water Stress
How to evaluate hail damage to cereal crops?
Hail can be devastating to cereal crops, especially in unstable spring and summer weather. Assessing hail damage can be challenging, but there are steps you can take after hail events to evaluate crop damage and make decisions on next steps.
Find out how to evaluate hail damage
Considering claiming crop insurance? AFSC extended seeding dates for some regions
Excessive precipitation across northern Alberta over the past several weeks has significantly impacted seeding progress for many producers and is causing fields to flood in some areas.
In anticipation of issues arising from the wet weather, AFSC extended seeding dates for some regions to give producers additional time. These extensions only apply to the 2026 crop year. Clients with elected acres under the Silage Greenfeed Lack of Moisture program have until July 15 to seed those crops.
The deadline to file land reports was June 20. Once all reports have been processed, AFSC will have a clearer picture of total seeded versus unseeded acres and overall production impacts.
More information on insured causes of loss, pre-harvest inspections and alternate use
Should I spray for leaf diseases?
Recent rain events increased the disease pressure of foliar and head diseases in cereal crops. While scouting, pay close attention to the lower leaves, as they are closer to the inoculum (stubbles) and often have higher humidity. Cereal foliar diseases often start from the lower canopy, then spread to the yield-impacting flag/penultimate leaves.
If disease pressure is high at flag leaf stage, consider applying a fungicide to protect the yield potential.
If disease pressure is manageable at flag leaf stage, consider delaying the fungicide to heading stage. A fungicide application during heading protects the crop against both head and foliar diseases. For highest efficacy, apply the fungicide after heads are fully emerged. This ensures all spikelets on the heads are protected.
How to manage tricky spray conditions?
This spring has brought some tricky spray conditions. Rain makes the field muddy and not accessible to equipment. Windy conditions make the good coverage challenging and increase drift risks. Cold/hot temperatures may impact the efficacy of pesticides.
How to manage these challenges?
Find tips in dealing with different scenarios
Check the rain fastness of the pesticides you are using in the Bluebook or the Bluebook App