While many canola pests are tough to predict in the year before seeding, flea beetle activity one year may allow you to anticipate rather than react to the pest in next year's canola.

Some pests such as diamondback moths have to fly long distances to get at your canola. Others, such as bertha armyworm, come in cycles. But if you're in an area that experiences flea beetle problems from time to time, you can get the jump on the insect before you seed canola.

Get your field ready the year prior to seeding canola, the Canola Council of Canada advises. Why? Research data shows flea beetle populations increase very quickly in a newly sown canola field.

That's because individual canola seedlings don't have much tissue, weighing as little as 0.15 grams when they are young and vulnerable. A flea beetle can gobble up that much in a single warm afternoon.

To help protect next year's crop now, leave standing stubble this fall in a field where you plan to seed canola in 2010. The stubble will trap snow, maximize moisture and allow an earlier seeding date where conditions permit.

The earlier you can seed canola, the better the plant will withstand flea beetle activity, because the pest eats and moves much more slowly in cool weather.

Question: did you check the areas adjacent to the field in question for flea beetle populations this summer and fall? If you saw lots of flea beetles on wild mustard plants or other weeds of the mustard family, that's your cue. You can expect that flea beetles will overwinter in leaf litter and around the field.

Also, if you've had flea beetles in the past in your area, and if the fall populations signal potential trouble ahead, plan to seed canola first if you can. Canola could then get off to an early start thanks to the extra moisture trapped by the stubble.

The crop then may also get past the five- to six-leaf stage before the beetles become most active, and beetle feeding will be less of a problem, the council said.

If the pest is still a problem next year, remember that the economic threshold for flea beetle control in canola is when 25 per cent or more of the cotyledons are damaged. If 25 per cent defoliation is reached, foliar insecticide application may be needed if plants are growing slowly or are under stress, and if beetle feeding activity is increasing.

Also, remember that flea beetles make their way into canola crops from the edges of fields. By catching a problem with flea beetles early, you may be able to spray the perimeters of affected fields and stop an infestation before it spreads.

However, the Canola Council warns, just because flea beetles appear to be feeding doesn't mean you should immediately haul out the sprayer.

"Unwarranted spraying can cause harm to beneficial insects and can also contribute to the development of insecticide resistance," agronomist Matt Stanford said this spring.

"With current seed treatments, flea beetles must feed on leaf material and ingest the insecticide for control so some feeding damage is normal."