As we mentioned last week, we are dealing with abnormal rainfall and cool temps in Alberta and Saskatchewan and that has pushed canola seeding back further than desired. Now that the calendar has entered June, many farmers have started hiring floaters to broadcast seed the canola seed. This is not ideal but the unfortunate reality… Read More
Category: Canola School
Okay I will say it…..this spring has been a real challenge. Crop staging is quite varied. We have plants battling frosty conditions and there is thousands of acres that have not been planted yet. If have crop up it feels like it is standing still in the water or colder temperatures and if you are… Read More
The weather in Western Canada this spring has really been unbelievable. With portions of March that felt like June and an April that felt like January, farmers have been stalled in the field. Many tractors and seeders were trapped in snow drifts for a couple weeks and many people were without power a couple times…. Read More
So far we have addressed seeding speed and seeding depth. The last piece of this seeding triangle is the seeding rate. Whether you are seeding canola, corn, soybeans or canola you need to make sure that you are seeding at a rate that allows you to get the proper emergence. As Derwyn Hammond, Canola Council of… Read More
Last week, we discussed seeding speed and the need to keep your seeder at an adequate speed to achieve desired productivity but not lose the accuracy required to get the proper plant emergence and stand. In terms of seeding depth a rule that I was taught long ago is that the smaller the seed, the… Read More
At the recent Canada Grains council meeting a listened to a full day of discussions around Canada’s market access issues across all the main crop types. The recent market access issues with canola are well documented and continue to challenge the countries trade attempts. With 85-95% of Canada’s canola crop getting exported, trade is very… Read More
Seeding equipment continues to get larger and larger which allows for more acres to be covered in a day. Even with the larger equipment some farmers still find it hard to control the speed of the tractor just so they can say that they covered so many acres in a day. Everyone needs to remember… Read More
With the advent of the introduction of seed treatments like Helix Extra, we do not hear as much about flea beetles anymore. The reality is that they are still around and could have an impact on your yield. Forecasts for this pest are difficult and we require the pest to eat the plants in order… Read More
With canola being one of the only crops in Western Canada that will enable a profit on the farm this year we need to do our best to protect it. One of the largest threats to canola yields is the cabbage seed pod weevil. The cabbage seed pod weevil mainly affects areas of Alberta and… Read More
For years many farmers just worried about nitrogen and phosphorus but things have changed. As we have discovered more about the way the plant reacts to different nutrients, farmers look to anyway to increase the overall health and yield of the canola plant. There seems to be differing opinions on the need for micro nutrients… Read More