20 fields test positive for disease

Richard Froese
South Peace News

Clubroot disease has spread to several farm fields in Big Lakes County since the initial incident was located in a field in July.

At its regular meeting Nov. 29, council was updated on the testing in September under the Agricultural Services and Agricultural Service Board (ASB) led by agricultural fieldman Sheila Kaus.

An extensive survey of 323 canola fields resulted in 20 that tested positive for the clubroot pathogen, the first clubroot-positive result in Big Lakes County.

“In total, seven producers will be served with pest notices in accordance with ASB policy and their fields will be barred from planting canola until after 2021,” Kaus says.

“We are also working with five other producers on the issue.”

A recent update of the policy allows for producers to work with the county should the infestation level be found to be less than 10 per cent while serving notice on lands found to be heavily infested.

A risk-assessment map is available to the public to indicate positive fields in a given township.

“A lot of the policy comes from the provincial government and we just have to enforce and regulate it,” Reeve Ken Matthews says.

“We want to control it.”

However, since the policy was updated by council Aug. 30, changes have sparked some concern in the agricultural field.

“Since the discovery of clubroot in the county, there have been comments from producers and members of the ASB that the four-year consecutive limitation imposed by the ASB policy in clubroot-positive fields is too harsh,” Kaus says.

However, that is the time recommended by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, she adds.

“It is important to understand that these control measures represent a minimum standard that is to be applied in all municipalities across the province,” Kaus says.

Updates and revisions were supported by the county’s solicitors Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP Barristers and Solicitors.

“I do not think there are any issues with the enforceability of the policy in terms of whether it would be subject to a challenge,” states a letter from Daina Young, partner.

“If a person is dissatisfied with a notice issued to them, their remedy is to appeal to the municipality’s pest-control committee.”

Kaus says the former policy focused on zero tolerance, while the new policy regulates how the issue of clubroot will be managed.