When it comes to diseases that rob canola yields, blackleg often doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Many farmers underestimate the significance of blackleg, says Bruce McKinnon, an agronomist with Dekalb in Alberta, in the video below. “Blackleg is a powerful disease that seems to be able to adapt to whatever we throw at it. As we’ve tightened… Read More
Category: Canola
Once upon a time, something like a cabbage and a turnip-like plant engaged in a very “fortuitous cross pollination” and a new species was born, first known as oilseed rape, and then further cross-bred to become the human-consumption form, canola. It’s this cross-pollination so long ago that has made mapping of the canola genome a… Read More
With seed companies preparing for an expansion in corn acres across the prairies, farmers considering growing Roundup Ready corn for the first time are wondering whether it fits in crop rotations that already include Roundup Ready canola. The concern is the introduction of another glyphosate-tolerant crop could complicate management of volunteer forms of corn or… Read More
The law firm of Siskinds LLP, based at London, Ont., has launched a class action regarding neonicotinoid pesticides, specifically those containing imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiomethoxam, designed, developed, marketed and produced by Bayer (as Bayer CropScience) and Syngenta. The action, set in motion by Sun Parlor and Munro Honey, seeks in excess of $400 million in… Read More
With the canola crop maturing later than normal in parts of Western Canada, there’s some concern about frost hurting the crop. Temperatures dipped close to freezing in some parts of the Prairies earlier this week, with reports of light frost in northern Alberta. In this Canola School, Warren Ward, agronomy specialist for Eastern Saskatchewan with… Read More
With canola swathing underway across Western Canada, now is the time for growers to assess the toll that diseases have taken on the crop. The “what to look for” list at this time includes the main suspects: blackleg, sclerotinia and clubroot. In this episode of the Canola School, Keith Gabert of the Canola Council of… Read More
Hot summer days and over-wintered canola — a disaster waiting to happen, or a non-issue? Turns out, as of last fall, there was little if any research to reference on the safety of storing canola well into the hot summer months. Canola growers will be pleased to learn that that’s no longer the case, as… Read More
It’s been a while since the Roundup Ready trait revolutionized growing canola for Western Canada. Monsanto Canada is looking to kick weed control up a notch yet again with the (eventual) introduction of the TruFlex Roundup Ready trait. Visitors to Monsanto’s Momentum Tour were treated to a first-hand look at how the TruFlex trait performed… Read More
Deciding when to start swathing canola can be one of the most difficult calls you make at harvest. Too early, and you give up yield potential, too late and you can risk big losses. Knowing your hybrids, recognizing ideal swath-timing colour change and verifying actual seed colour, not pod colour, change will all go a… Read More
Up until now, the Manitoba government has remained mum on the whereabouts of three canola fields that showed signs of clubroot infection in 2013. Farmers and agronomists had asked for more information regarding positive pathogen finds in order to better fine-tune best management avoidance practices. Today, Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Development released a map showing… Read More