Boron is one of the essential micronutrients needed to grow a high-yielding crop of canola.
When looked at in the plant and how it is used, boron doesn’t move about all that quickly.
As Erika Dowling, technical sales manager with Mosaic Company, explains in this Soil School episode, due to the slow mobility of boron in the plant, it’s important to look at the soil, too.
“It all comes down to your parent material, and what your soil structure is like. So if we have a field that has really good organic matter, comparing that to a sandy field, we tend to see a lot more boron coming from that field that has organic matter because that’s going to be where we see mineralization and see that boron coming from,” Dowling explains. “It’ll move within the soil profile with moisture.”
Boron is negatively charged, adds Dowling, which means synergies with other nutrients can come into play — which is where having a well-rounded crop nutrition plan becomes even more crucial.
“When we address our nitrogen, our phos, our sulphur, our potassium applications, the next thing we maybe want to look at is are we addressing the micros to make sure we’re getting the most out of the crop,” she says.
Heading into the fall season, soil sampling is going to be a key part of the micronutrient story, as that’s where deficiencies will show up. Remember — as the texture varies, you may see variability in the boron levels as well.
Check out the full conversation between Dowling and RealAgriculture’s Kara Oosterhuis, below:
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