YS Ag Consulting

08/26/2026

Not a Worm Wednesday- Ladybugs

Tis the time of year for questions to come in about weird looking bugs showing up everywhere so I thought we'd deviate from worms to show the many faces of ladybugs.

With the high numbers of aphids that seem to be around this year the ladybug populations have been ramping up but while the larval and adult stages eat thousands of aphids (up to 5000 over the course of their life) mites and other small insects we're much more familiar with the adult red bodied bug with black spots we all love.

Ladybug eggs are laid in bundles of 3-300 eggs in aphid colonies and emerge looking like little alligators to feed on aphids for 3-4 weeks before finding a spot to "faceplant" and pupate into a black and orange lump before emerging as the more recognizable adults.

08/20/2026

Worm Wednesday-Cotesia Wasp (beneficial)

When was the last time you or your neighbours have had to work about alfalfa looper or wheat head armyworm numbers? If the answer is never you've likely benefited from this beneficial managing things behind the scenes for you.

This parasitoid wasp lays eggs in many soft bodied crop pests that are killed as the larvae consume the host as a food source. Bundles of white cocoons on wheat awns are one noticeable sign cotesia was at work.

Beneficial insects are a key reason why spraying shouldn't be taken lightly, done just because the neighbour is or done "just in case". Make sure the right insect is being counted at the right time across the full field.

Because if we lose beneficial insects we lose agriculture.

08/05/2026

Worm Wednesday... it was going to be a happy post about a beneficial until I found something I've never seen before.

This time of year we're all looking for bertha armyworm in the canola; what wasn't on my radar was bertha at impressively high (20/ft2 in spots) numbers in a single lentil field. Bertha on the lentils, the Canada thistle, the sow thistle, the alfalfa in the driveway, probably on the fence posts had I checked.

After checking with the provincial entomologists it was confirmed this was bertha and not another climbing cutworm and that while extremely rare lentil can be a host crop. Even stranger is that these numbers are 10-20x what canola fields in the area are at.

07/29/2026

Worm Wednesday- Hoverfly larva (beneficial)

This dramatic little blob under the canola canopy is one of 593 recognized hoverfly species in Canada. The larva are blind and rely on touch to find their next meal which is the cause of their erratic movement across the ground.

Some species feed on decaying plant material helping to cycle nutrients, others feed on other soft bodied insects. One larva can consume up to 400 aphids during it's larval stage. Adults resemble bees and act as pollinators.

Added bonus- check out the birdsnest fungi in the upper left toward the end of the video🍄

07/22/2026

Worm Wednesday- Wheat stem maggot

I'm starting to get calls about white stems and heads scattered through cereal fields and once hail is ruled out it's usually wheat stem maggot. A quick way to check is to just pull on the head, if it pulls out freely and has been chewed up at the bottom you've got bugs.

Wheat stem maggot is native to North America and feeds on a variety of cereals and grasses. Larva feed inside the stem, detaching it from the plant and preventing it from filling. Damage is typically only 1-5% and looks worse than it actually is.

There is no registered chemical control or economic threshold, by the time white heads show up the damage is already done.

07/08/2026

Worm Wednesday (zoo animal edition)- Zebra Caterpillar

I've only ever found one zebra caterpillar in 10 seasons of walking fields, this one near Stettler in 2021, so it's not been a major concern just very noticeable.

Feeding on canola, flax, alfalfa, clover, sugar beets and some vegetables there were some reports of significant damage in canola fields in Manitoba nearly 15 years ago but damage is typically spotty and isolated.

A study in the 1990s in BC showed about half of zebra caterpillar were being parasitized keeping populations well under control.

07/01/2026

Worm Wednesday- Leaf miner

This one showed up in the flag leaf of a bunch of wheat back in 2021. Since it didn't appear in any of my insect books I had to contact the provincial entomologist for an ID. The larvae mine the inner leaf between the cuticles before becoming adults. Damage has also shown up on peas this year and can be seen on tree leaves.

A significant problem in parts of Europe and Asia, Alberta is lucky enough to have many parasitoids controlling the population for us.

06/27/2026

06/24/2026

Worm Wednesday- Bertha Armyworm

It seems too early to be thinking about bertha but there are currently 177 pheromone traps sites across Alberta being run by agronomists, retails, counties and research organizations in their second week of monitoring bertha moth populations to predict larval damage once canola is podding (https://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/app68/listings/bertha/bertha_map.jsp is where you can go to follow the excitement).

Bertha armyworm are actually climbing cutworms and if you talk to an old enough farmer they can tell you about years where you could hear the army of bertha crossing the road to the next field once one had been cleared.

In most years a combination of disease, environmental conditions and natural predators keep populations under control but when these fail damage can be significant. Last year saw localized outbreaks in Alberta and Saskatchewan so here's hoping this year's cool wet weather will be enough to keep bertha at bay.

04/17/2026

Is your seed as field ready as you are? Did a germination test over the winter in an old peanut butter jar on top of the fridge and things look good?

While doing a germination test in the house gives you an idea of seed survival at room temperature it doesn't tell you what will happen in real spring soil conditions. That's where a vigor test comes in, its a cold stress test mimicking early spring temperatures and gives you a real picture. Vigor will also begin to drop ahead of germination, signaling an issue soon to come. And a fall seed test is great but things don't always come out of the bin in the same condition they went in.

For this grower a fall seed test showed things were decent, rates were calculated according to the test and the lower germination rate was compensated for...then only half the plant stand emerged emerged. After double checking a ton of potential causes before sending away a seed test and finding the vigor to be an exact match for the 50% emergence. Many of the remainder did eventually emerge in late June to early July once the soil was warmer but that isn't what anyone plans for when they're seeding field peas. 4 plants/ft2 when 8 is intended leaves a lot of room for w**d establishment between, especially in kochia country and leaves a lot of potential on the table.

So instead of just putting that peanut butter jar of wet paper towel and seed on the fridge think about putting one in the fridge as well to stress your seed out. Or better yet just leave it to the experts to check things for you.