Canola blackleg spore shower risk forecast for Western Australia – 22 Apr 2025

Page last updated: Tuesday, 22 April 2025 - 11:37am

The DPIRD blackleg forecast model predicts the dates of spore maturation on canola stubble. Spore showers will commence soon after the spores are mature in the fruiting bodies. The model then predicts the risk of matching spore release with the seedling susceptible stage of the crop (4 – 6 leaf stage). The current forecast is based on weather data (1 January to 22 April 2025) from the nearest weather station. Projections assume four millimetres (mm) of rainfall per week from now until the end of the year.

Risk forecasts

Map showing the relative current risk of spores coinciding with the seedling stage based upon Blackleg Sporacle Model outputs for various locations in Western Australia, 22 April 2025.
Map showing the relative current risk of spores coinciding with the seedling stage based upon Blackleg Sporacle Model outputs for various locations in Western Australia, 22nd April 2025.

If you are using the BlacklegCM decision support tool you can manually enter the blackleg risk levels that relate to your sowing date and location into the app under the “Crop Circumstances – Spore maturity risk” section. If you would like a location to be added to this forecast page please email CropDiseaseTools@dpird.wa.gov.au.