An agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada says now is the time for producers to start thinking about applying fungicide to combat sclerotinia.

Angela Brackenreed notes for control of sclerotinia, there are a few products available - all of which have a label recommendation of 20 to 50 per cent bloom.

She says wet weather is perfect for the development of sclerotinia.

"Moisture is really the biggest determinant of the amount of sclerotinia that will be present, so you want to think about the two weeks prior to flowering," said Brackenreed. "If there is good soil moisture and some rain, you definitely have conditions suitable for the development of sclerotinia. So consider that yield loss is typically somewhere around half of the percent infection when you're thinking about whether this will be economical."

Brackenreed adds its better to spray earlier than late, noting that producers should be targeting that 20 - 30 per cent flower to ensure you hit mostly open flowers before they fall off.