A total of 217 canola (Brassica napus) fields were surveyed in the major canola production regions of Saskatchewan in 2023. The survey covered the northwest (39 fields), northeast (34 fields), west-central (35 fields), east-central (46 fields), southwest (24 fields) and southeast (39 fields) areas of the province. Due to the random and permission-based nature of field selection, not every rural municipality (RM) was surveyed in each region, while multiple fields were surveyed in some RMs.
Disease assessments were made in each field by collecting 20 plants from five different sites, each at least 30 meters from the edge of the field. Sclerotinia stem rot (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) was observed in 30 per cent of the crops surveyed. Average incidence across all crops surveyed in the province was 4 per cent (12 per cent incidence in infected crops). The provincial average sclerotinia stem rot severity was low at 0.1 out of 5 (0.4 in infected crops). The overall mean incidence for the province was lower than in 2022 (six per cent) but higher than 2021 (two per cent). Lower disease incidence in 2023 compared to 2022 can be attributed to the weather during the growing season.