What's Happening in Red Deer, AB…

An updated clubroot policy has been developed Red Deer County to protect local crops.

The new rules were approved by the county council during their regular meeting on March 3rd. Low levels of clubroot will now be tolerated before a pest notice is issued to a producer or land owner.

They will receive a notice about the issue, and be given information about how to control the disease. Brochure printers will be able to create pamphlets that outline the steps they can take to deal with the problem on their own land, and also how to prevent its spread.

According to county manager Curtis Herzberg, the updated policy reflects the changing situation. In the past, the rules were designed to help keep the pathogen out. Now that cases are starting to show up, the new regulations have been set up to attempt to keep it from spreading even further. It allows producers who find they have low levels of infestation to attempt to control the problem on their own.

Clubroot is a disease that affects crops in the cruciferous family of plants, such as mustard, cabbage, canola and some other varieties. It is caused by the microorganism Plasmodiophora brassicae, and causes the roots of the affected plants to become deformed. It also results in a loss of vigor and often the plant will not develop properly into a marketable product.