Category: Canola Seeding

Your perfect stand of canola and someone else’s idea of a perfect stand of canola could be significantly different. More than that, any two seed lots could have a significantly different seed size, and that translates to having to move away from one “rule of thumb” pounds per acre seeding rate. Seed is expensive, too,… Read More

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