Mustard to Control Wireworms

Last week Blair was at the farming smarter conference held in Lethbridge. Wrapping up the first day, Ryan Barnett, a potato agronomist from Prince Edward Island joined to talk about cover crop options before and after potatoes. One highlight that Blair took from the talk was how they are using mustard and buckwheat to help control against wireworms.

Mustard and buckwheat are sensitive to frost, which can be a challenge for southern Alberta. Another challenge to consider are crop rotations, with seed canola being very common in areas where potatoes are grown ,you would want to avoid growing mustard.

If rotation is not an issue, and wireworms are a risk on some of your acres, Mustard 21 has a new hybrid brown mustard called AAC Guard. It is a hybrid brown that does not produce seed, which will help the volunteer risk.