b'What does the BLS situation look like on thedozens of anecdotal reports, especially in Prairies?southern Alberta. Looking at the nature If you look at its development in theof development within and across fields, northern Great Plains, it was really in thethere was some evidence of seed trans-mid to late 2000s that North Dakota, Southmission, while outbreaks appeared to be Kelly Turkington Dakota, and Minnesota started noticingassociated with severe weather events Plant Pathologistissues with BLS. If we look at the Prairieincluding thunderstorms.Agriculture and Agri-Foodregion, and well turn our attention toOverall, if we go back to the mid Canada, LacombeManitoba first, the information is primarily1990s, we have observed bacterial issues Kelly is currently involvedfrom 2020. There was one confirmed case,in a range of cereals, whether its wheat, with research on the usebased on lab testing from last summer,barley or oat, but these are usually iso-of plant resistance forand there were other anecdotal reports.lated. In our barley leaf disease screening disease control in cereals,Some of the symptoms were misdiagnosednurseries, we might have breeding lines studying the impact ofearlier on, and likely were confused withwere looking at for scald resistance in cropping systems on diseaseleaf spot complex (tan spot and septoria).barley, and we might find one or two of development, fine-tuning theOne cereal variety that BLS was primar- the hill plots out of several thousand with use of fungicide applicationily reported on was AAC Viewfield, butsymptoms. At that point it was really more for disease management,certainly other cultivars are susceptible,of a curiosity that we would see bacterial plant disease surveillancebased on some preliminary testing thatissues in some yield trials and occasion-and risk assessment, andMike Harding with AAFC Brooks did inally in some commercial fields. Its an the development of practical2020. If you look at the rainfall data inissue that is certainly appearing to become integrated solutions for2020 for May, June and July, there weremore of a concern. It certainly started crop health and diseaseareas that had some pretty significant rainoff as more of a research curiosity and management. events. Severe weather events are likely asomething that wasnt really very common. risk factor, which help to create woundsThats obviously changed over the last five on the wheat or barley plant, which theto 10 years and as such it warrants a closer bacterium can access in order to infect thelook in terms of the nature and prevalence plant.of the issue and development of manage-If we look at Saskatchewan, there mayment strategies. have been some misdiagnosis in the field. There was one confirmed report of theHow much is known about what varieties are susceptible?POLLS issue as well as other anecdotal reportsWe have a lot of questions regarding vari-affecting a number of different varieties. Turning our attention to Alberta, ination in Canadian varietal reaction. Mike Some insights gleaned during our2012 there was a report of fungicide non- Harding, plant pathology research scientist recent webinar. Watch it now! performance in the southern part of thewith Alberta Agriculture and Food, looked Have you had experience with thisprovince. We tested leaf samples and iden- into this and focused mainly on wheat disease? tified bacteria as the likely culprit basedvarieties as well as a single barley variety, on bacterial streaming from infected leafand his research indicated all the varieties tissue. Mike Harding and colleagues notedwere more or less susceptible, unfortu-that in 2013 BLS was reported in south- nately. 43% ern Alberta. Fast-forward to 2018, where 57% moderate bacterial symptoms were noted in barley yield trial plots in the Castor area of central Alberta. It is likely the observed disease levels would have had an impact Yes No on yield. In 2019-20 Mike Harding andTo view our full-length webinar on this topic, visit colleagues confirmed eight fields andgermination.ca/blsSUPPORTED BY: ENDORSED BY:42GERMINATION.CAJULY 2021'