Canola School: Basing Seeding Rates on Thousand Kernel Weight

Are you seeding your canola at 5lb/ac? Unless your seed rate was calculated based on that seed lot’s thousand kernel weight (TKW), you may be losing yield potential, as plant numbers decline with increasing seed size.

Angela Brackenreed, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, suggests re-calibrating when the TKW of a seed lot changes by one gram.

“Ideally we would be re-calibrating our drill every single time we’re using a new seed lot with a different thousand kernel weight. But, you know, the spring is so busy and time is definitely of the essence,” said Brackenreed. “So, I think that’s just a good rule to go by. If you’re seeing that gram change, then maybe yeah, you should consider a different seeding rate and re-calibrating your drill.”

In this Canola School, Brackenreed emphasizes the importance of TKW in canola seeding, highlighting the visual demonstration prepared for CanoLAB. Will you be re-thinking your approach to seeding this year?

Got big seed? Murray Hartman, Alberta oilseed specialist, offers three strategies for getting more without significantly increasing your seed costs in this Canola School episode.