Monday, October 20, 2014

Summer 2017

ASB Members Council Jim Matthews (Chairperson) Wade Lindseth Gerald Kuefler (Reeve) Gunnar Albrecht Gary Matthiessen James Brodie Rick Manning

Appointed Members Colin Matthiessen David Hihn Garret Jackson Howard Shield

Agricultural Department Kevin MacDonald - Agricultural Fieldman

Kelsey Fenton - Assistant Agricultural Fieldman

Corey Stuber - Agricultural Foreman

Wanja Nordin - Administrative Assistant

Call: 780-384-4118

www.flagstaff.ab.ca

Summer 2017 INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Beetles making progress 2

Field surveys to resume 2

Fungal disease on rise 3

Weed spotlight 3

Farm safety tips 4

‘Not weeds to me’ Agricultural Service Board Newsletter

Country Roots Tour features dandelion farm south of Strome There’s a sign welcoming

visitors to John and Irene Feddema’s farm that cheekily reads: “Knock twice ... If no answer … pull weeds!”

Yes, go ahead and pull the sow thistle and other noxious nuisances. Just don’t touch the more than 20 patches of dandelions on their 27-acre homestead south of Strome.

“That’s not weeds to me,” says John, 75.

As the owners and operators of Dandy Joe Roasted Dandelion Root Coffee & Teas, the Feddemas grow dandelions and process them into a variety of tea and coffee products, which they currently sell at farmers’ markets in Camrose and St. Albert.

The one-of-a-kind business venture — they are not aware of anything similar in North America — began about 12 years ago. At that time, the Feddemas were growing rhodiola but were also growing weary of the losing battle they were waging in trying to weed out dandelions.

The couple, who spent most of their farming years as grain growers and beef producers,

had heard dandelion roots

could be dried and roasted to make tea and coffee with a variety of purported health benefits.

They decided to take a leap of faith. After plenty of sweat equity and trial-and-error, they were a big hit a few years later at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market, selling more than 40 bags of Dandy Joe in their first day. Since then, they’ve sold an estimated 7,000 bags, which retail for $15 to $20.

Indeed, dandelions aren’t pulled on this farm. They’re harvested every fall after the first frost to allow for maximum nutritional value.

Last fall, the Feddemas harvested a bumper crop of 8,000 pounds of dandelion root using a mini track hoe.

“Everybody hates dandelions,” John says. “I encourage them. I’ve got no problem with dandelions anymore.”

Learn more about this farm Aug. 11 on the Country Roots Tour. For tickets, visit www.flagstaff.ab.ca or call Jenalee at 780-384-4152.

Agricultural Service Board Newsletter Page 2

Beetles making inroads in war on leafy spurge There’s a beetle invasion

taking place on two Hardisty-area farms.

But not to worry. It’s all part of an innovative weed control program that Flagstaff County’s Agricultural Services department is spearheading in partnership with the Alberta Invasive Species Council.

For the second consecutive summer, flea beetles have been unleashed in a patch of leafy spurge on farms owned by Wyatt and Theresa Bitzer, and Steve Mazure.

The tiny black beetles, referred to scientifically as aphthona lacertosa, are known to have a voracious appetite for leafy spurge.

And by all accounts, these little weed warriors are making measurable progress on the Bitzer and Mazure farms.

“You can see they’re doing some damage,” says Flagstaff

County weed

inspector Jessica Hryciuk, who recently visited the farms with Karma Tiberg, a biological control specialist contracted by the Alberta Invasive Species Council to assist with the beetle releases.

Hryciuk and Tiberg both cite a sizeable bald patch (roughly three square metres) that’s clearly visible on the Bitzer property.

“We found beetles in that bald spot,” notes Tiberg, who works part-time as a research technician with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research and

Development Centre, where she spends winters testing new bio-control species.

Last summer, Tiberg released 4,000 flea beetles on the Bitzer farm and 2,000 on the Mazure farm.

This year, another 2,000 beetles were released at both sites.

Prior to fall, flea beetles will lay eggs in the soil and eventually die.

The larvae, meanwhile, burrow into the roots of the invasive vegetation and overwinter there – emerging the following summer as adults.

The flea beetle is inherently lazy and rarely flies. Rather, it hops.

And as long as there’s leafy spurge around, it will stay put.

The hope, of course, is that the flea beetle population will increase from year to year, which will increase the patch size of leafy spurge that’s impacted.

Tiberg reports that a significant number of beetles successfully overwintered at both sites.

“The first hurdle is getting them to overwinter,” she explains, noting it will take a few years for the flea beetles to get established and get the upper hand on leafy spurge.

“I’m happy with the results. It’s not an instant-gratification scenario that a lot of people are used to.”

For more information on the use of flea beetles to control leafy spurge, call Flagstaff County’s Agricultural Fieldman Kevin MacDonald at 780-384-4138 or email him at kmacdonald@flagstaff.ab.ca.

Field surveys set to resume this summer Beginning at the end of July, ASB

staff will be conducting random grasshopper and clubroot surveys across Flagstaff County.

Approximately 50 fields will be surveyed for grasshoppers and 200 fields will be checked for clubroot.

Clubroot is a serious soil-borne disease that affects canola, mustard and other cruciferous crops in the cabbage family.

Inspectors will wear a new pair of disposable booties in each field surveyed and will only access a field on

foot. Vehicles will not be entering any fields.

Inspections follow standard protocols as recommended in the Alberta Clubroot Management Plan.

Positive identification is obtained through a laboratory test. The owner of land verified to be positive for clubroot will be notified in writing with a legal notice in accordance with the Province of Alberta Agricultural Pests Act. All survey results are submitted to Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.

Fields verified as being positive for clubroot shall not be seeded to canola or another host crop for three years.

If a host crop is sown on land that has clubroot and a notice has been issued on this property restricting the growth of host crops, the host crop shall be destroyed.

Since 2008, clubroot has been detected in 35 fields in Flagstaff County. The majority of the fields are located between Highway 13 and Township Road 424, from Highway 36 west to the County line.

A ‘bald spot’ is visible in a patch of leafy spurge on the Bitzer farm — evidence of the progress made by flea beetles (inset).

Page 3

Summer 2017

Fungal disease on rise in Alberta cereal crops

It’s been a bane to producers in the eastern Prairies for many years.

But now Fusarium head blight (FHB), a serious fungal disease that affects kernel development in cereal crops, is increasingly posing a threat to producers throughout Alberta, including Flagstaff County.

In fact, in 2016 nearly 25% of all crop samples in Alberta tested positive for the disease — up from about 6% in 2015.

The most damaging species of FHB is Fusarium graminearum, which causes significant losses in grain yield and grain quality, while also resulting in the production of mycotoxins that affect livestock feed, the baking and milling quality of wheat, and the malting and brewing qualities of malt barley.

F. graminearum is listed as a designated pest in the Agricultural Pests Act. A lab certificate showing that the seed lot in question was tested and found to be non-detectable for F. graminearum must accompany all cereal and corn intended for use as seed in Alberta.

What can be done?

Producers must avoid planting seed that is infected with F. graminearum. Seed of susceptible crop species must be tested by a seed testing laboratory and only seed with non-detectable levels of F. graminearum is to be used for seeding purposes.

Crop rotation

To help slow down the buildup of infested crop residues, a crop rotation away from cereals to non-hosts, including canola, pulses and forage legumes should be considered for at least two years. This will allow enough time for infested residue to decompose before the next cereal crop is seeded.

Variety selection

Using the least susceptible varieties will help to reduce the risk of FHB and perhaps the potential for buildup of F. graminearum.

For more information, watch the following four-minute video created by Alberta Agriculture: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE1WwOFDLUU.

Yellow clematis is a perennial vine of the buttercup family, native to high mountain areas of China and India. It reproduces both by seed and vegetatively from stem pieces. Vines grow rapidly either along the ground or will climb and cover other shrubs/trees, fences and trellises. It is widely available as both an ornamental plant and seed under a variety of names — Golden Clematis, Golden Tiara, Virgins-Bower — from seed; Radar Love, Helios.

C. tibetana is a very similar yellow flowered clematis that is also available and hybridizes with C. tangutica.

Habitat

Yellow clematis is tolerant of cold, drought, nutrient-poor soils, and part shade, but prefers full sun. It develops a long taproot and can be found thriving in open woodland, grassy areas and even gravelly areas such as railway ballast and industrial areas.

Identification

Stems: Several per plant, growing up to 3-4 m long. Young stems are green while older stems are woody.

Leaves: Bright green and compound with 5-7 lance-shaped leaflets 5-6 cm long, which may be lobed. Leaf tips are pointed and leaf edges are coarsely toothed.

Flowers: Lemon-yellow, nodding, with four petals, and appear mid-summer through late fall. Flowers are bell-shaped at first and then flatten as the petals spread. Petals may be silky-hairy on the outside and occasionally tinged purplish-brown.

Prevention

Yellow clematis is distributed mainly through the nursery trade, and then spreads far beyond the gardens and flowerbeds via its abundant, wind dispersed seed. Do not purchase plants or seeds labeled with any of the names listed above.

Weed Spotlight: Yellow

Clematis (Alberta Invasive Species Council)

Page 4 For more information contact: Agricultural Department

Still using Google Maps to view your land in Flagstaff County? That's so 2016.

Let us suggest you try out our interactive, online mapping application.

Web Map, as it's known, gives you a much better picture, offering access to a wide range of useful municipal land information, including detailed aerial photography.

Web Map is located at the bottom of the homepage on our website at www.flagstaff.ab.ca.

Among this handy online tool’s many practical

applications, Web Map allows landowners to accurately calculate arable acres on their property, for instance.

Other searchable information includes soil classification, land elevation, pipelines, wells, roads, right-of-ways,

property lines, legal land locations, township grids and municipal boundaries.

Give it a try. You’ll be glad you did.

Try out Web Map for aerial photos and other handy applications