Nova Scotia Selection of Minor Use Pesticide Priorities: Dec 1st

 Please save the date for our annual Selection of Minor Use Pesticide Priorities for Nova Scotia crops on Monday, December 1. The sessions will be in person at the Perennia office at 28 Aberdeen Street, Kentville at the following times:

10 AM - Vegetables

12 PM - Wine grapes

1 PM - Berries

There will be snacks and we look forward to everyone connecting again in person for these sessions. Your group will be guided through the different crops to assess the priority pest control needs for insects, weeds/growth regulators, and diseases. If you have potential solutions on your radar (products registered in other crops or for other uses) or have heard of products you might be interested in, please bring those along as well.

Any grower or industry representative is welcome to attend, so if you know of someone who would like to attend please let me know so I can include them on the contact list. It is highly recommended that you attend the meeting but if you cannot make it, please send me your critical pest issues and any potential solutions for consideration. The selected priorities will then be submitted on behalf of the province and used in ranking the national priorities.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Tim

Nitrogen Management Workshop Series -- Focus on Amendments

 Join us for in person workshops this fall/winter to help you dial in your fertility!

This year we're hosting five events from Sydney to Middleton. We'll dive into the key information you need to understand how to assess your soil and crops needs and finish with breakout group where you'll be able to put that learning into practice and work through specific examples... Bring your soil tests so we can make it as relevant as possible to you!

The first event is taking place in Sydney on November 25th -- We can't wait to see you. 

Click here to register and for more information 

On-farm water management program now open

 The application portal is now open for the On-farm water management program announced earlier this week. 

All applications must be received by September 12, 2025 with a claim deadline of November 30th, 2025. Please reach out to your local Agriculture Reps if you have any questions. 

The program guidelines and an application form can be found here: https://novascotia.ca/programs/on-farm-water-management/

Act now to protect your onions, leeks, and garlic from the second leek moth flight

Leek moth larvae can cause severe damage to your allium crops by tunnelling through them, creating both an unsalable crop and sites for secondary infection, which will further damage your onions, leeks, and garlic. Because the larvae spend most of their time inside of your plants, they are inherently difficult to deal with.

They do have an exploitable weak spot that you can use to dramatically reduce their numbers and help to protect your crop from the larger waves of leek moth that come with the second and, potentially, third waves we will get.

Before the leek moth can make its second flight (typically in early July), the larvae must leave the safety of the plant's interior and create a cocoon on the leaf. They will stay in this cocoon for roughly 12 days before emerging as moths. This gives you, the grower, a twelve-day window to control your populations by eradicating the cocoons (pictured below).

Photo: AAFC

If you miss this window, each emerging moth can lay between 100-200 eggs, which will hatch as larvae and immediately tunnel into your allium crop--making control from that point on very challenging.

This twelve-day window is the most important period you will have to control leek moth this year and it is likely to start in roughly a week, depending on where in the province you are located (southern areas will be slightly ahead of northern areas).  

When deciding where to scout for leek moth cocoons on your property, think about what plants were growing during the first flight (early June). Often there are no onions/shallots/leeks planted in the ground at that time, so it’s not likely that you would find cocoons on them. Instead, focus on crops that have overwintered. The crops you are most likely to find cocoons on from the first flight are: Chives, Garlic, and plants in the Liliaceae family.

Placing insect netting/row cover over your crops forms a protective barrier; however, if one of the plants already has a larvae/cocoon in/on it when you cover your crop, then row cover can create a protected area that will benefit emerging leek moths. It’s crucial to scout your crop before applying row cover.

Any time you can put into scouting your chives, garlic, and lily family crops over the next couple of weeks will significantly reduce their future populations.

Here is a great resource if you’d like to learn more: https://rvpadmin.cce.cornell.edu/uploads/doc_764.pdf

 

Good luck hunting!

 

Tim