And there’s swede midge in Saskatchewan
that’s causing trouble. It hasn’t been found
in Alberta yet.
What’s di erent is we’ve seen a new pest
every couple years—and that’s a concern.
The new pests seem to be introduced from
somewhere else, whereas grasshoppers,
wheat stem sawfly and bertha armyworm
are residents of the Prairies.
GW:
Do we know how these pests arrive?
Meers:
Each one will be di erent. As
soon as we make a generalization about
an insect, some other insect comes along
and breaks the rule of what we know.
That’s a constant with insects: if you think
you know everything, then there’s always
something that will surprise you.
GW:
How should farmers treat insects?
Meers:
If they’re costing us money, then
we have to take the appropriate action.
Now, that may be a choice of the right va-
riety or a spray. But, I’m also convinced we
should be paying attention to thresholds,
and only acting on problems when they
reach or cross those thresholds. More often
than not, Mother Nature has something
that’s attacking that insect. And that works
in our favour, rather than against us.
GW:
Have farmers ever inadvertently
killed good insects while spraying for
pests?
Meers:
That’s been well documented, not
so much in our field crops, but certainly in
crops like apples, where you spray out one
insect and cause another one to become
more common. We’re suspicious of that
happening with a number of insect species
in our field crops.
GW:
Have you ever had to immediately
deal with an extreme pest population
that was quickly moving to devour
crops?
Meers:
Yes. I think timing is critical with
insect control. One example is bertha
armyworm. Throughout bertha army-
worms’ cycle as larvae, they aren’t causing
much economic damage. But when they
move up onto the pods and start feeding
on them, we have to move very quickly. If
we fail to do that, and if there are enough
of them, then we can lose crops. And we
have seen that happen.
GW:
Should you spray for bertha army-
worm once they are up onto the pods?
Meers:
In that case, yes. But we are aware
of several natural enemies that do a very
good job of controlling bertha armyworm
in the long term. We promote the mes-
sage, ‘Spray if you have to, but let Mother
Nature look after the population.’
Sprays protect crops. They’re not meant
to manage insect populations. If you have
to spray for bertha armyworm, it means
the natural enemies haven’t done their
job. Natural enemies control virtually
every bertha armyworm population. That
usually drives the cycle, not our spraying.
GW:
Is your research moving in the
direction of finding other alternatives
to control pests, instead of just using
insecticides?
Meers:
In my view, pest management has
to be integrated. If we can use natural en-
emies, we do. If we can focus on cultural
practices like seeding dates and seeding
rates, and growing certain varieties, we
will. In moments that require spraying,
we will use them. We look at insect man-
agement more systematically, rather than
just firing insecticides.
GW:
How have farmers’ perceptions on
sprays changed over the years?
Meers:
I think they understand better.
We’ve had good research over the years,
but we also have more examples that we
can show farmers to help them under-
stand. It used to be that we didn’t really
know why insect populations cycled more
frequently and why they became problems.
Farmers also don’t like to use insec-
ticides if they don’t have to. They cost
money and have health risks associated
with them. They will only use them if it
makes them money.
Better information usually makes for
better decisions, and that’s why we are
getting better crops.
GW:
What are the next big pests farm-
ers should brace for?
Meers:
It could be something that’s not
a pest anywhere else in the world that
ends up here, and decides to go crazy and
devour our crops. We just don’t know what
that might be.
Although, swede midge is causing big
trouble in Ontario. That could be a prob-
lem for Prairie canola, if it comes here.
The pollen beetle is also causing trouble
for canola in the Maritimes. That could be
trouble for us. We watch for that, but you
just don’t know what you might stumble
across.
Spring
2015
Grains
West
18
CLOSE-UP:
Meers takes a closer
look at insect specimens at his lab in
Brooks, AB.
