It’s the time of year when many producers are thinking about swathing, or looking forward to desiccating and straight cutting their canola crop. Two of the more common options for dry downs on your crop are glyphosate, a slower process but great for cleaning up fields; and diquat, the active ingredient in most registered desiccants…. Read More
Category: Canola School
Numbers of diamondback moths have increased in Western Canada over the past couple of weeks, in part due to the dry weather and strong winds. In some areas where the canola is still in late bloom, they are causing a fair amount of damage. Héctor Cárcamo, entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says the key to… 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
“15 to 20 years ago it made me nervous to drive past a canola field waiting to be straight cut. But now…our genetics have improved, our ability to handle that crop, and the size of our combines and ability to handle that crop and harvest it in a timely fashion has gotten much better.” This… Read More
When we think of sprayer drift, we usually associate it with wind, but there are other environmental factors that influence where droplets end up. Tom Wolf, spray specialist with Agrimetrix and Sprayers101.com, takes a fun twist on learning more about spray drift in this Canola School video, using…a bubble machine. “The bubbles fly just like… Read More
When it comes to assessing canola maturity at this time of eyar, it can be tricky to see what’s what, especially when it comes to a thick canola crop. In this Canola School episode, Keith Gabert, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, shares a tip for finding the main stem — a trick… Read More
“What would happen if we bumped nitrogen rates up by 10 percent? Or vice versa? Should we apply boron? What about foliar product XYZ?…” As a grower, you’re constantly considering different ideas on to get the best return on investment in a given crop, but with all the variables in farming, it’s often difficult to… Read More
Canola crops across the prairies are in many different stages — some are coming out of bloom, and some are still in the window where dribble banding nitrogen could work. When it comes to making nitrogen available to your canola crops, weather plays an imperative role. After all, wet conditions are the reason many acres… Read More
When you see the stem rot in the field, it’s too late. And that’s just one of the reasons why managing sclerotinia is a challenge, as exerienced in 2016, a severe year for the disease in canola fields in Western Canada. In this Canola School episode, we talk to Michael Harding, plant pathologist with Alberta… Read More
Most problems around the farm are better prevented than solved, especially when it takes two weeks for the problem to show up. In this Canola School episode, we talk to Tom Wolf with Agrimetrix and Sprayers101.com about the importance of properly cleaning out your sprayer. “There are usually two parts to a cleanout. The first… Read More