Whether fields are mucky or dry this spring, cleaning farm equipment is the best way to reduce the spread of clubroot. Now that seeders, cultivators and sprayers are moving into the field en masse, Erin Brock, Canola Council agronomy specialist, urges farmers across the prairies, and especially affected areas of Alberta, to make sure their equipment is as clean as possible.

Canola growers can minimize the spread of clubroot this spring, simply by knocking off soil lumps and sweeping loose soil off machinery, she adds. Clubroot can spread only through resting spores in the soil or in canola plant material containing galls. Resting spores are most likely to spread via contaminated soil carried from field to field by equipment, she says.

“That’s why it’s important to clean wheel wells, tires, the undercarriage and any other areas where dirt really accumulates,” Brock says. “I recommend a power washer with either hot water or steam. Then finish off with a weak disinfectant of 1-2% active ingredient bleach solution.”

She admits this is a time-consuming extra headache at seeding but “it’s a must – and not just a quick slosh of bleach on dirty tires.”

Because organic matter deactives bleach, Brock advises growers to remove all the soil first, use clean – not dugout – water, and make sure the bleach solution remains on machinery for at least 10-15 minutes before rinsing.

She also recommends planting a grassed area near the field entrance on which to do the cleaning. Use an air line from the air drill fan to make it easier to blow off dust.

Clubroot is a serious disease of canola, mustard and other crops in the cabbage family. There are no measures to control it in canola. It was first found in canola fields near Edmonton in 2003. By the end of 2007, clubroot was present in 10 municipalities around Edmonton and one county in southern Alberta. It was added as a declared pest to Alberta’s Agricultural Pests Act.

For more information about clubroot, check the Alberta Agriculture and Food factsheet: Clubroot Disease of Canola and Mustard http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex8593

and the Alberta Clubroot Management Plan at

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex11519

For more information, contact:

Erin Brock, Agronomy Specialist, Peace Region, 780-586-3326 or

Kelly Funke, Communications Officer, 204-982-2111

Derwyn Hammond, Manitoba, 204-729-9011

Jim Bessel, North Central & North Eastern Saskatchewan, 306-373-6771

David Vanthuyne, Eastern Saskatchewan, 306-946-3588

Doug Moisey, East-Central Alberta and Northwestern Saskatchewan, 780-645-3624

Matthew Stanford, Southern Alberta and Southwestern Saskatchewan, 403-327-4832

John Mayko, West-Central Alberta, 780-764-2593

This media release is supported regionally by:

Alberta Canola Producers Commission; Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission; Manitoba Canola Growers Association; Canola Council of Canada; Peace River Agriculture Development Fund; B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.