Farmers will notice a significant difference with DEKALB canola seed bags going forward.
Bayer CropScience has announced it will move to number of seeds/bag versus weight, to help farmers more easily achieve target plant populations.
For 2022, each bag of DEKALB canola will contain no fewer than 4.2 million seeds — enough for 10 acres with a plant density goal of 5 to 8 plants per square foot.
Work done by the Canola Council of Canada, and Bayer’s own research, suggests that a target plant population of 5 to 8 plants per square foot maintains the yield potential of a crop. Fewer plants than this can leave yield on the table and decrease weed competition; many more plants and the crop may end up growing more spindly, being less productive, and more prone to lodging.
The 4.2 million seeds per bag minimum is based on 10 seeds per square foot. With average canola survivability in Western Canada ranging from 50 to 80 per cent, this seeding rate supports a target plant population of 5 to 8 plants per square foot, Bayer says.
