List of Upcoming Events and Products

Most Recent Ag News Article

August 26, 2026 - Machinery Hygiene is Most Important

The control of invasive species, pests, and disease begins with clean equipment.

Few sights are more rewarding to a farmer than seeing hayfields dotted with fresh green bales, a critical source of forage that feeds livestock throughout the cold winter months. It can be a challenge to put up good hay, making the most out of dry weather while keeping a wary eye on the horizon for potential rain.

Severe forest fires in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan during the past few years have added a new complication to the haying equation due to heavy smoke in the atmosphere blocking the heat and light of the sun, delaying curing and drying. This season there was enough precipitation present to lift fire bans, and that awful familiar smell of smoke did not persist. 

With the persistent challenges mother nature provides, it’s critical to do our part in preventing potential yield loss through spread of disease and pests. The easiest way to prevent weed and pest spread is to thoroughly clean equipment prior to leaving a site.

Invasive plants and pests are the most costly and significant threat to agriculture and environmental biodiversity. They negatively affect the quality and quantity of agriculture and horticulture while threatening our natural ecosystems.

Many of us forget to consider the ramifications of not cleaning equipment between fields. For the majority of farmers, machinery hygiene tends to be a fall chore with a focus on equipment maintenance. In the interim, weeds and seeds are carried from field to field inadvertently throughout the growing season. 

It is not uncommon to see new infestations appear at the entrance to fields where debris is dropped from equipment as it comes off the County road.

Avoiding weed spread is one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent further problems and the need for expensive control methods. Making an extra effort to clean off equipment prior to leaving the field pays real dividends over the long term. Even a quick brush down with a broom makes a difference.

It is not just farm equipment that is at fault. Cars, trucks, motorbikes, ATVs, earthmoving equipment, and even boats are common carriers of invasive species. Contaminated soil and plant material can easily lodge in a variety of locations on vehicles and equipment. 

Making a visual inspection should become standard practice, especially after leaving an infested site. 

Some effective cleaning options include washing, air pressure, vacuuming and physical removal. It is not always possible to wash equipment on site but even a portable pressurized spray tank can be used to clear hard to reach areas, especially when equipment is dry. 

Portable vacuums offer a quick and easy way to clean out cabs. Carrying a brush and/or broom and a scraper will help to remove larger deposits in more accessible areas.

Machinery should be cleaned from the top down and include the undercarriage, springs, axles and tires. Whenever possible, detergents should be used to remove grease, dirt and mud.  

Footwear should also be cleaned along with socks and clothing. Using the same site for cleaning will allow for monitoring of volunteer weed growth which can be easily controlled.

Contaminated material should be disposed of in a manner that ensures all removed weeds and seeds will not grow or continue to spread. Establishing management practices that reduce the spread of invasive species is the responsibility of every machinery operator.

On the disease front, Weed and Pest Technicians have wrapped up scouting canola fields for signs of clubroot. Clubroot of canola is a serious soil-borne disease of cruciferous plants of the brassica family. 

In canola, it causes swellings or galls to form on the roots which ultimately result in a reduction of yield and in extreme cases the premature death of the plant. It is caused by a fungus-like protist called Plasmodiophora brassicae. Currently, there are no economical control measures that can remove this pathogen from a field once it has become infested.

It is possible to curtail the spread of clubroot through a combination of management practices that include using a sanitation plan between fields (machinery hygiene), diligent scouting and record keeping, utilization of clubroot-resistant varieties and practicing a minimum of a one-in three-year crop rotation.

The Agriculture and Community Services department would like to wish everyone a safe and successful harvest this season.