Canola swathing has begun in Manitoba, but according to the weekly crop report, some Manitoba producers are facing challenges with deciding when to cut because of disease issues.

Manitoba Agriculture plant pathologist Pratisara Bajracharya says disease pressure has been quite high this year, not just in canola, but in all crops. When it comes to canola diseases specifically, she says there has been a little bit of everything.

"We've seen a bit of blackleg and sclerotinia," she says, "so with scleortinia, it's causing lots of lodging issues, so I can imagine producers will have a difficult time harvesting it. Also, we're seeing a little bit of fusarium wilt on canola just because it was so wet. Earlier on we did see some root rot issues as well."

The latest disease report from Manitoba Agriculture also shows other diseases, like pink seed, which doesn't often occur in Manitoba, has appeared in some field pea acres this year because of the wet weather.

"Pink seed is caused by a bacterial pathogen," Bajracharya says. "It's caused by a bacteria called Erwinia (rhapontici), so there's really no control strategy for this disease because it's bacterial and no fungicides will work against it."

The disease report also indicates Goss's wilt is being found in corn fields with poor rotation history and less tolerant hybrids.