2023 Agenda & Program
20th Annual
Invasion: Facing the Plague of New Pests
November 7, 2023
Victoria Park East Golf Course
1096 Victoria Road South
Guelph, ON
AGENDA
8:30 a.m Registration and Coffee, Poster Set Up
MORNING SESSION
Chair: Rachel Riddle, University of Guelph
9:00 am Welcome and Opening Remarks. Kristen Obeid, Chair, OPMC
9:05 am Adaptation of AgRobotics for root and bulb vegetable production in high organic matter
soils. Geoff Farintosh, University of Guelph. (Invited Speaker)
9:25 am Soil microbiome and calcium content in relation to the risk of cavity spot on carrots.
Umbrin Ilyas, University of Guelph. (Student Competition)
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9:40 am Emerging threat of ring nematode in Ontario's fruit crop production: What we know so
far. Jerry Akanwari, Brock University. (Student Competition)
9:55 am Resistance to two SDHI fungicides in Stemphylium vesicarium, 2023. Emily McFaul,
University of Guelph. (Student Competition)
10:10 am Optimization and scalability of regenerative in situ electrochemical hypochlorination for
closed-loop hydroponics. Serge Lévesque, University of Guelph. (Student Competition)
10:25 am Coffee Break and Poster Viewing
10:55 am PLENARY PRESENTATION - Spotted lanternfly past, present and future: Impacts and
management of this invasive pest. Dr. Julie Urban, Pennsylvania State University
11:40 am OMAFRA CropIPM demonstration. Susan Murray, OMAFRA. (Invited Speaker)
12:00 pm Lunch and Poster Viewing
AFTERNOON SESSION
Chair: Cassie Russell, OMAFRA
1:00 pm Examining two Dicyphus species (Hemiptera: Miridae) for their potential use as biological
control agents on greenhouse crops. Carly Demers, University of Windsor. (Student Competition)
1:15 pm Mitigating apple replant disease with biocontrol soil treatments. Meaghan Mechler, University
of Guelph. (Student Competition)
1:30 pm PLENARY PRESENTATION - Palmer amaranth: Biology, ecology, management and lessons
learned from Georgia, California and New York. Dr. Lynn Sosnoskie, Cornell AgriTech
2:15 pm Coffee Break and Poster Viewing
2:45 pm PLENARY PRESENTATION - A plague on all our houses: Plant viruses. Dr. Jonathan Griffiths,
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
3:30 pm Viatude, a new fungicide for management of white mould in soybean in Eastern Canada.
Jamshid Ashigh, Corteva Agriscience. (Industry Speaker)
3:50 pm Presentation of Student Competition Award Winners – Kristen Obeid, OMAFRA
Closing Remarks and Adjourn
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POSTER PRESENTATIONS
-Graduate Student Poster Presentations-
GP1 Disease forecasting models for management of Stemphylium leaf blight of onion. Julia Scicluna,
University of Guelph. (Time of judging 9:00-9:10 am)
GP2 Characterizing beta-tubulin dsRNA for RNAi control of an aggressive Neopestalotiopsis species.
Sarah Koeppe, University of Guelph. (Time of judging 9:12-9:22 am)
GP3 Effect of soil pH and calcium base saturation on severity of clubroot on canola, 2023. Kirsten Holy,
University of Guelph. (Time of judging 9:24-9:34 am)
GP4 Estimating Fusarium head blight severity in winter wheat using deep learning and a spectral index.
Riley McConachie, University of Guelph. (Time of judging 9:36-9:46 am)
GP5 American ginseng: multi-pathogen interactions in ginseng replant disease. Andrew Rabas,
Western University. (Time of judging 9:48-9:58 am)
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GP6 Tetranychus urticae adaptation to phenylpropanoid defensive compounds in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Alexander Harrison, Western University. (Time of judging 10:00-10:10 am)
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GP7 Engineering RNA interference precursors to induce silencing of hop latent viroid in hop (Humulus
lupulus L). Taylor Atsaidis Royal, University of Guelph. (Time of judging 10:12-10:22 am)
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GP8 Managing Verticillium stripe in canola through genetics, omics, and understanding the
Brassica napus - Verticillium longisporum interaction. Ayomi Thilakarathne, Wilfred Laurier University. (Time of judging 11:40-11:50 am)
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GP9 Pathogenicity of Ilyonectria mors-panacis on American ginseng using chlorophyll fluorescence
measurements. Anka Colo, Western University. (Time of judging 11:52-12:02 pm)
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GP10 Screening for Neopestalotiopsis spp. in Ontario strawberry varieties and F1 hybrids. Justin
McNally, University of Guelph. (Time of judging 1:00-1:10 pm)
GP11 A CRISPR platform for controlling Fusarium dry rot in potato. Narges Atabaki, University of Guelph.
(Time of judging 1:12-1:22 pm)
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* Judging time - Students must be present at their poster at the time indicated and during the morning and afternoon breaks.
-Undergraduate Student Poster Presentations-
UP1 The influence of cannabis plant tissue type, trichome density and cultivar on cannabis aphid
(Phorodon cannabis) behaviour. Carter Mikkelsen, University of Guelph. (Time of judging 9:00-9:10 am)
UP2 Phosphate solubilizing microbes Pseudomonas poae (I186) and Pantoea eucalypti (I77)
demonstrating dual potential as bio-fertilizer and bio-fungicide. Ryan Joyce, Western University. (Time of judging 9:12-9:22 am)
UP3 Potential companion plants to protect against Thrips parvispinus in greenhouse ornamental crops.
Avery Johnson, Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. (Time of judging 9:24-9:34 am)
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UP4 The potential of Pseudomonas flourescens, I336 and Bacillus velezensis, I113 to restore garlic seed
stocks with latent fusarium infections. Anna Hawkins, Western University. (Time of judging 9:36-9:46 am)
UP5 Biocontrol of fungal plant pathogens in cannabis using Bacillus amyloliquefaciens I113. Hayden
Hornick-Martyk, Western University. (Time of judging 9:48-9:58 am)
UP6 Fungal endophyte Beauveria bassiana suppresses clubroot (Plasmodiophora brassicae) on
cabbage under controlled environment conditions. Kelly Ruigrok, University of Guelph. (Time of judging 10:00-10:10 am)
* Judging time - Students must be present at their poster at the time indicated and during the morning and afternoon breaks.
-Regular Poster Presentations-
RP1 Assessment of pesticide resistance of Tetranychus urticae populations from southwestern Ontario.
Joseane Moreira do Nascimento, Western University.
RP2 Switchgrass gall midge, an emerging Ontario pest. Rebecca Hallett, University of Guelph.
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RP3 Assessing the ecological interactions between invasive and endemic species of gall midge pests of
canola. Rebecca Hallett, University of Guelph.
RP4 Initial testing of weeding robots in vegetable production systems in Ontario Canada. Kristen Obeid,
OMAFRA.
RP5 Available genetic testing enables early detection and mitigation of herbicide resistant weeds.
Kristen Obeid, OMAFRA.
RP6 Harmonized surveillance of common waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus): A model of national
collaboration. Kristen Obeid, OMAFRA.
RP7 Enzymatic activities and transcriptomics analysis of wheat response to Bipolaris sorokiniana and
Heterodera filipjevi. Maryam Monazzah, University of Padua - Agripolis.
Conference Sponsors
The OPMC wishes to thank the conference sponsors for their financial support of the conference.
GOLD SPONSORS
Crop Life Canada
Syngenta Canada, Inc.
SILVER SPONSORS
BASF Canada
Bayer Crop Science Canada
Belchim Crop Protection Canada
Cohort Wholesale
Corteva Agriscience Canada
FMC Canada
Nufarm Canada
Laboratory Services, AFL, University of Guelph
Turnkey Genomics
Valent Canada Inc.
The OPMC would also like to gratefully acknowledge additional financial support from the School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph.
CropLife Student Competition Judging Panel
The OPMC wishes to thank the members of the judging panel for generously volunteering their time to help make this competition happen.
Graduate Oral
Jason Deveau, OMAFRA
Hannah Fraser, OMAFRA
John Purdy, Abacus Consulting Services
Marty Vermey, Grain Farmers of Ontario
Graduate Poster
Tyler Blauel, U of G
Travis Cranmer, OMAFRA
Katie Goldenhar, OMAFRA
Amanda Tracey, OMAFRA
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Undergraduate Poster
Meghann Garlough, Bayer CropScience
Erica Pate, OMAFRA
Post Conference Survey
Thank you for attending the 2023 OPMC. Please take a few minutes to complete a post-event survey. Your feedback is important in organizing future events. To complete the survey, visit:
Organizing Committee
Kristen Obeid, Chair - OPMC, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Chris Duyvelshoff, Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association
Melanie Filotas, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Katie Goldenhar, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Kristy Grigg-McGuffin, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Justin Renkema, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
Rachel Riddle, University of Guelph-Simcoe
Julie Schipper, Valent Canada
Sean Westerveld, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
OPMC Logo and Banner Design by Doug Schaefer