Features Agronomy Cereals
Alberta insect forecast maps online

Dec. 17, 2014 - Insect forecasting maps for next season in Alberta are being posted online.

Scott Meers, insect management specialist at Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, says the maps will help producers plan the upcoming year appropriately. The first two maps are up, and focus on wheat midge and wheat stem sawfly.

In the wheat midge survey, there was none found in the Peace region of the province which is a complete reversal of the previous year. Central Alberta has some hot spots with high counts, and southern Alberta has quite low numbers with the exception of some irrigated fields in the Taber/40 Mile area.

In the wheat stem sawfly survey, the numbers are looking extremely low -- the lowest numbers Meers says he has seen in 10 years.

Four other forecasting maps covering cabbage seedpod weevil, pea leaf weevil, bertha armyworm and grasshoppers are scheduled to go live in January.

The maps can be found here.