Agriculture Minister visits Saskatchewan AND The threat of rust

Canada's new agriculture minister spent some time in Saskatchewan. Heath MacDonald toured around various areas---Regina, Indian Head, and Davidson and met with farm leaders from the grain and oilseed, beef, and dairy sectors.

Saskatchewan agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison also accompanied MacDonald on all stops during his tour. MacDonald will share more on the conversations and concerns of farmers during his visit.

Prairie farmers may face a potential rust threat this year

Dr. Kelly Turkington, a research scientist in plant pathology with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Lacombe, says rust spores typically originate from the Pacific Northwest and the Texas-to-Nebraska corridor in the U.S.

These spores, which include stripe rust, leaf rust, stem rust, and crown rust in oats, are carried by the wind and usually start appearing in the prairies in June. Over the years, research scientists, breeders, and pathologists have been working on developing crop varieties with increased rust resistance with moderately resistant (MR), or resistant (R) rating can control the disease effectively, making fungicide application unnecessary.

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