Canadian Wheat Board

Farmers

Midge emergence maps

2009 wheat midge watch:

Detailed maps estimating 2009 midge emergence patterns in Western Canada are now available.

The maps use an innovative agronomic modelling application developed by the CWB, building on work done by researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon and the University of Manitoba. The models use weather data from the CWB-WeatherBug network and Environment Canada.

Midge emergence can be modeled using accumulated temperature calculations called Degree Days (DD). Data provided by Agriculture & AgriFood Canada (AAFC), Saskatoon suggest using a base temperature of 5°C for predicting wheat midge emergence patterns using accumulated DDs. Thresholds for combined emergence of male and female midge are:

10% emergence     693 (±39) DD
50% emergence     784 (±38) DD
90% emergence     874 (±41) DD

Maps will be updated by mid-morning on a daily basis Monday to Friday each week until the end of July.

View midge emergence maps