Category: Canola School

Soil compaction — as many other topics and issues in agriculture — has no simple solution.Marla Riekman, soil management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, says in this Canola School episode that soil compaction is “one of the hardest topics to discuss with farmers.”She says this is because the easiest solution is to stay off the field, which is… Read More

As canola fields start to turn yellow, It may feel like it’s a long time away, but weknow all too well, harvest comes very quickly.And with harvest, comes harvest loss management.After a season full of nurturing crops to get the best possible outcome, we don’t always realize how much of the final product we are… Read More

Aster yellows is a ‘phytoplasma’ disease carried by aster leafhoppers. It’s known for the odd-shaped canola pods it causes later in the growing season.Problems with aster yellows are hit and miss, depending on your area and the year.“We are kind of waiting for the next leafhopper infestation with aster yellows, the next big aster yellows… Read More

Less than ideal conditions have slowed down canola development and left the crop vulnerable to tiny 2.5 millimetre beetles in some areas this spring.Flea beetles are the number one pest in canola on the Western Canadian Prairies.In this Canola School episode, we talk with Tyler Wist, entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon, about how you should… 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 Canada, about… Read More

With the cooler soil temperatures we’ve been seeing across Western Canada, unwanted pests are beginning to show up in some fields.Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Insect Management Specialist Scott Meers says that early on in the season we should be keeping our eyes out for stand establishment insects such as cutworms and wireworms.There have been a couple reports… Read More

You can’t really blame mice and deer from taking a bite out of overwintering canola swaths — your crop is literally a giant buffet for them. And, of course, animals have never heard the saying “don’t poop where you eat,” and so, to add insult to injury, not only has overwintered canola been downgraded by… Read More

The unprecedented amount of canola left in the field over winter in Saskatchewan and Alberta has producers and processors trying to figure out the value of this crop.Very little research has been done previously on the impact of snow and over-wintering on canola quality, says Veronique Barthet, oilseed research scientist at the Canadian Grain Commission.“We… 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 and… Read More

As the Canadian government contemplates moving forward on a free trade agreement with China, the canola industry sees tremendous potential to increase exports to the country that already imports more canola seed than any other.That’s because Canadian canola seed headed to China currently faces a nine percent tariff, whereas the tariff on soybeans is only… Read More