Variable seed size, seed costs, and unique seeding equipment can make recommending a canola seeding rate nearly impossible except on a farm-by-farm basis. What agronomists can do is help farmers work backwards from the desired plant stand count to get where they need to be, but what if that number proves very expensive? The Canola… Read More
There are a lot of different strategies farmers can use to delay or manage for herbicide resistant weeds. Some are complex and some are expensive, but sometimes a simple thing like making sure the ground is covered can make a big difference. RealAgriculture’s Dale Leftwich recently had the chance to speak with Ian Epp, Canola… Read More
Which clubroot-resistant canola variety with herbicide tolerance trait X is the earliest maturing in your area? What about the highest-yielding blackleg resistant variety with herbicide trait Y? Every year the Canola Council of Canada administers the Canola Performance Trials — a third-party small plot and field scale evaluation of current canola varieties. The program is… Read More
The ability to precisely place individual seeds in a row, as with corn or soybeans, has led some canola growers to switch from air seeders to vacuum planters. Trials in southern Alberta support the hypothesis that better seed-to-soil contact from using a planter results in improved germination and emergence, says Mike Gretzinger, research manager for… Read More
For some farmers in some southern parts of Western Canada, seeding is starting to wrap up. But others are still have the challenge of getting last year’s crop off, all while trying to get this year’s crop in the ground. In this Canola School episode, we talk to Brittany Hennig, agronomy specialist for the Canola Council of… Read More
Wet conditions prevented normal fall fertilizer application in parts of Western Canada last fall, leaving growers looking at options for delivering nitrogen to this year’s crop. As Don Flaten, soil scientist at the University of Manitoba, explains in this episode of Canola School, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Growers will have to consider their limiting factors… Read More
Canola seed in Canada could soon come with a label describing the variety’s blackleg disease resistance package, similar to the labeling system used in Australia. After around four years of discussions between seed companies, researchers, and growers, an agreement-in-principle has been reached on blackleg resistance labeling, says Clint Jurke, agronomy director with the Canola Council of Canada,… Read More
Update: The Canola Council of Canada has developed online calculators to determine your target plant density based on your individual field conditions, abilities and appetite for risk, as well as optimum seeding rate. You can find them at CanolaCalculator.ca. While the official industry recommendation for an optimal canola plant stand remains 7 to 10 plants per square… Read More
If the world of soil biology had its own version of Facebook, crops like peas, lentils, corn and flax would be listed as “in a symbiotic relationship” with mycorrhizal fungi. The microscopic organisms help these crops access phosphorus in the soil. Wheat would probably be friends with mycorrhiza, as cereals see some benefit from having… Read More
To some growers, it’s an old idea; to others, it’s completely new. The concept of peola — intercropping peas and canola — has been around in Western Canada for decades, but with new varieties and weed control options, the practice seems to be gaining momentum again. In 2009, the Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization found an attention-grabbing yield… Read More
With maps of moisture extremes popping up across the prairies, and predictions of another dry year, it’s hard to know what to make of seeding. But, as Murray Hartman, oilseed specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry points out in this episode of the Canola School, there isn’t much sense in panicking. Not yet. Moisture Extremes… Read More
Parts per million versus pounds per acre. Olsen versus Bray. Nitrogen versus nitrate… Some of the numbers and technical terms on the paper or email you get from the soil test lab are relevant for understanding nutrient availability for your crop and others don’t actually mean much for growing crops Western Canada. So which numbers are meaningful?… Read More
As soybeans are introduced and grown more frequently in rotations that already include canola in Western Canada, growers may find their soil bank accounts for phosphorus and potassium running low. Both canola and soybeans are heavy users/removers of P and K, explains Laryssa Grenkow of Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers in this Canola School episode,… Read More
7 to 10 plants per square foot is still the target plant population when seeding canola. That hasn’t changed, but some of the practices used and the way we think about achieving an ideal plant stand might need to be re-evaluated. For example, research has shown that stand establishment is generally higher with a lower seeding speed, so… Read More
Frost has taken a toll on the canola crop in Western Canada over the last few weeks. In some cases, where temperatures dropped well below -2 degrees for an extended period, the decision to reseed is easy. However, the replanting decision is more complicated in most instances. As part of this Canola School episode, Anastasia Kubinec of… Read More