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CANOLA CEREAL PULSES PROTECT YOUR CROP YIELD and quality 2017 GUIDE FOR FUNGICIDE USE UFA.com

PRESERVE your valuable investment Tight rotations and adapting pathogens mean you need to pay more attention than ever to crop disease and be ready to act fast when there s a problem. Your local UFA Customer Account Manager (CAM) can assist. They know the issues going on in your entire area even before they become an issue on your farm. For more information or to set up an appointment, please visit UFA.com/Contact or call 1-877-258-4500, option 1. CANOLA: Blackleg isn t back - Blackleg never left! Blackleg levels have been steadily increasing in Western Canada over the last few years, with crop yields and quality suffering as a result. It s not just about yield. Blackleg is a major issue for international trade, and while China has backed off on its new minimum import tolerances, their concern about importing infection remains. It s still a trade issue, and we have obligations to lower blackleg levels, so farmers need to look for it and manage it, says Clint Jurke, agronomy director with the Canola Council of Canada. What are those obligations, exactly? Canada has committed to reduce blackleg incidence levels down from where they are now, he says. For years, blackleg resistant varieties were the answer, but resistance is breaking down and tight canola rotations only increase disease pressure. Further, with many UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use

CANOLA races of the blackleg fungus active on the Prairies, changing canola genetics from year to year doesn t always mean better disease control. In other words, a variety s built-in resistance has to be a genetic match to the blackleg race in your field for best performance. It s one reason why canola seed companies are moving to a system where new canola genetics will identify the particular blackleg race they are resistant to, so growers can make more informed decisions. Your canola is at risk for yield loss if: You re not scouting for it. You re running tight canola rotations (every two years or back-to-back). You haven t switched up your variety or herbicide system (ideally, you should do this yearly). In the past, you have lost yield to blackleg. Soils are moist and conditions are humid, which is often the case in the Canola microclimate. What can you do about it? Apply fungicide as early as possible, ideally at first herbicide application timing. Or include a fungicide tank mix with your in-crop herbicide application. Pay greater attention at harvest and assess your crop s performance against blackleg when you swath to get an idea of what, if anything, you need to do differently next year. If blackleg is evident, start choosing canola varieties with resistance labels that are different to what you ve used in the past. UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use 1

CEREALS: Fusarium head blight (FHB) is changing There are growers who have never had to deal with FHB in the past, but that s changing. Michael Harding, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Periodic surveys done by Alberta Agriculture are showing that FHB is not only moving north, but that the pathogen is changing and becoming more virulent. That could be one reason that FHB hit record highs in Alberta in 2016. Experts are already warning of increased disease risk specific to fusarium in 2017, so growers need to be prepared to properly manage for it. FHB isn t a disease that can be managed with fungicides alone, says Michael Harding, research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry in Brooks. Growers have to use all the tools available to them, proper crop rotation, variety selection, higher seeding rates, seed treatment everything that s listed in the Fusarium Management Plan. * If you re growing a susceptible variety, such as durum, in areas where disease pressure is high, using every tool at your disposal is absolutely critical. And if you re growing in low-pressure areas, you can t sit back. There are growers (in Alberta) who have never had to deal with FHB in the past, but that s changing, says Harding. Anyone who thinks they can turn the tide with fungicides alone will be disappointed. * Visit UFA.com/Crop or use this handy QR code. 2 UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use

CEREALS And let s not forget leaf diseases. Warmer, less snowy winters are helping some leaf diseases survive winter and winds from the south are always a risk for rust development. Monitor crops closely, watch leaf and stem disease progress, take disease history into account and spray accordingly. Wheat Spray timing Leaf: If infection is heavy, time applications to protect the flag once it s fully emerged. Head: Spray at early flowering (heads are 75 per cent emerged and half of main stem heads have visible anthers), which lasts for only three days. Stripe rust is unpredictable, so scout often and be ready to spray before it covers 5 per cent of the flag leaf area, otherwise it will be very difficult to contain. Excessive tillering means a wider window for infection to occur, increasing yield and quality risk. Boosting seeding rates reduces tillering for more uniform flowering and, therefore, a shorter window for infection. Malt Barley Apply fungicide at flag timing, rather than with your herbicide, to get the plump, uniform kernels malt houses want. Always spray for leaf diseases; if FHB is established in your area, spray for it. REMEMBER: Only 20 to 25 per cent of barley is actually accepted for malt quality is king. UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use 3

GETTING THE BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK: When is the best time to spray a fungicide? By: Troy Basaraba, Field Marketing Specialist, Bayer As your crop begins to establish and the temperatures warm up, it s time to start thinking about fungicides. Using a fungicide in cereals has become common practice in recent years as a way to protect your yield and maintain quality. Recent field scale research has also indicated that an application at headtiming is often the best way to maximize your results. When considering when to spray it s important to start by monitoring your field and environmental conditions. Firstly, reflect on your previous experiences. What diseases have you seen on your farm and in your area? What level of disease resistance does your seed variety have? Spend time walking your fields once your crop has emerged so that you can identify any diseases that may appear early. Knowing what level of disease pressure you are facing will help determine when you should start applying your fungicide. Traditionally, the practice has been to apply fungicides at flag-leaf timing in order to protect yield. However, as knowledge evolves by way of independent as well as in-house field research data, we are seeing that if leaf disease pressure is low to moderate leading up to the flag-leaf time, waiting the extra approximate 10 days until head-timing most often results in improved yield protection and has the added benefit of also improving crop quality. 4 UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use

OPTIMAL Optimal timing provides best results Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) has historically been an eastern Prairie concern but the pathogen has been on a steady western migration evidenced by the massive outbreaks across Saskatchewan and in certain areas of Alberta in 2014. This is significant because as little as 1 FDK in 400 kernels can downgrade your CRWS from top grade. FHB continues to be a concern so it s important that farmers across the Prairies that aren t currently affected by this disease do what they can to mitigate the spread of this disease. The best way to know if you can wait until head-timing to spray is to constantly monitor your fields. If at flag-leaf timing you begin to see significant disease on the upper leaves or flag-leaf, it s time to spray. However, if you only see minimal levels of leaf disease, you are likely able to delay spraying by a few days until the head has emerged and started to flower. Application of a fungicide at head timing will still allow a grower to protect the flag leaf as it is still very prominent and available for coverage, and will also allow a grower to protect the head against FHB which will maximize his yield and quality potential. If you are only budgeting for one fungicide application, application at head-timing will give you the best of both worlds and be the most efficient and effective spend of your fungicide dollar. For more information on fungicide application timing and to see trial results in your region, visit www.itpaystospray.ca. UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use 5

PULSES: Aphanomyces euteiches and you Consider subsituting peas and lentils with chickpeas, faba beans or soybeans. These crops are resistant to aphanomyces. Darold Niwa, Agronomic Specialist, UFA As if pulse crops didn t have enough disease issues to deal with, now comes along this upstart Aphanomyces euteiches. First identified in Alberta in 2013, this root rot-causing pathogen has spread rapidly to all pea-growing regions. Lentils are a good host for this disease as well, so while it s most prevalent in peas at the moment, growers should keep an eye on lentil crops too. If pulse crops are part of your rotation and aphanomyces is a concern in your area, consider substituting peas and lentils with chickpeas, faba beans or soybeans, suggests Niwa, agronomic specialist with UFA. These crops are all resistant to the aphanomyces. A. euteiches is a tenacious soil-borne disease kind of the clubroot of pulses and fungicide season is a good time to scout for symptoms. Look for stunted plants with yellowing leaves that occur in patches that expand over the season. One distinctive symptom of A. euteiches is a caramel or honey-brown coloration of the infected root mass. Proper diagnosis requires a DNA test, so collect soil and plant samples from suspect areas. And while you re scouting for that, make sure you re also looking for pulse diseases you can do something about now, like ascochyta or white mold. 6 UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use

PULSES Pulse acres are on a rapid rise in Alberta, which means an expansion of host acres for Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, which causes white mold in pulses and sclerotinia stem rot in canola. Inoculum is almost everywhere these crops are grown (it also infects forage and vegetable crops), so the risk of disease is high not only for your pulses, but for successive crops, too. Pulses succumb easily to disease, so a planned disease management approach is critical. Scout regularly and often for disease, beginning at emergence. Proper diagnosis is key: disease symptoms can look a lot like herbicide damage; know the difference. Foliar diseases can be spread lightning fast in the wind, so have fungicides on hand and be prepared to act quickly. More than one fungicide application is often necessary. Make the first application before first flowering and follow label directions for subsequent application timings. Better harvestability comes from better standability which allows for faster ground speed, quicker harvest and less headache. Better standability is an outcome of fungicide application. UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use 7

BEYOND fungicide NUTRITION & RESISTANCE Fungicides fortify your decisions and efforts. Darold Niwa, Agronomic Specialist, UFA Fungicide timing is good for more than fungicide application. While you re scouting for the presence of disease, make a note of other non-disease issues in the field. For example, it goes without saying that crops with strong nutritional programs build healthier plants that can defend against disease. It is a fact that a plant s nutritional needs change throughout the season. It means fungicide timing is a great opportunity to add foliar-applied nutrients if you see plants are struggling, or you simply want to boost yield potential. It s also a good time to check your weed control any escapes you can control now? Or should you be looking harder at your resistance management plan? Ninety per cent of disease mitigation occurs before any crop goes in the ground, says Darold Niwa, Agronomic Specialist for UFA. Variety choice, crop rotation, seed treatment, seeding technique, nutrition and more all contribute to lessening the impact of disease. Fungicides fortify your decisions and efforts. Contact your local UFA CAM today to help with your plan or your specific fungicide needs. UFA.com/Contacts or call 1-877-258-4500, option 1. 8 UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use

NUTRITION & RESISTANCE Introducing UFA s NEW PARTNER PLUS* PROGRAM Partnering with UFA is more rewarding than ever. Earn valuable rewards on incremental purchases between March 1 and September 30, 2017. See UFA.com/PartnerPlus for all the details. * Conditions apply. For full details see UFA.com/PartnerPlus Celebrating Farmer s Day Thanks for making Canadian agriculture the fantastic industry it is. We appreciate the hard work and spirit you put in every single day. FCC and UFA are proud to be partners in offering you FCC EasyGROW Credit, which gives you the flexibility to purchase inputs now and make payments in March 2018. For more information, contact your local UFA or call FCC directly at 1-800-510-6669. UFA 2017 Guide for Fungicide Use 9