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
Category: Canola
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
The Ultimate Canola Challenge was an idea the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) dreamed up for a 2013 start. The initial thought was that the project would help demonstrate how to grow high yielding canola crops and that researchers would submit production practices and later determine whose demonstrated the greatest potential. “But we couldn’t find any researchers who were… Read More
Since being found in Ontario in 2000, swede midge has had a rather hasty spread, with adults being found as early as 2007 in some areas in Saskatchewan. Until the past couple of years, however, western Canadian farmers reported finding few symptoms of swede midge damage, which can include anything from fused flower petals to… Read More
A soil test can give a good indication of nutrient inputs necessary for a healthy crop, (provided the sample is representative — more on this later). But besides something to consider in the spring, a soil sample may also be a tool for in-season plant health diagnostics. In these circumstances, the role of a test is perhaps most appreciated… Read More
I’ve seen my share of unintentional intercrop — lentils and mustard that just HAD to grow together, I guess (I call that one ‘lustard’) — but did you know there may be very profitable reasons to intentionally grow two crops on the same land in the same year? While intercropping is not rare on a… Read More