April 7, 2021

CANOLA QUIZ – While you wait (for seeding)

Seeding too early in Western Canada puts canola at risk from killing frost and flea beetles, which tend to congregate on the earliest canola crops in a region. While waiting for a lower-risk time to seed canola, this quiz hints at a few other things to think about in April. 

1. What caused the large patch of missing plants in this photo? Hint: Dry conditions elevate the risk from this problem, especially if conditions have been drier than normal since last summer.  

2. Nitrogen fertilizer placed in the seed row can damage canola seeds through ammonia toxicity and salt effect. That is why we recommend only phosphate  fertilizer (which includes a bit of N) in the seed row. Place all other fertilizer outside the seed row. With drier-then-normal soil moisture levels for many parts of the Prairies, we have to ask: What do dry soils do to the risk from seed-placed nitrogen?  
3. The seeding rate tool at canolacalculator.ca is handy for choosing an appropriate seeding rate based on seed size. For example, if seed size is 5 grams per thousand, the target stand is 6 plants per square foot and estimated emergence is 60%, the calculated seeding rate is 4.8 lb./ac. What is the seeding rate for 6-gram seed, everything else being equal? 
4. Canola Watch first reported on glyphosate-resistant kochia in 2012 after Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada confirmed the discovery in southern Alberta. It didn't take long to show up across the Prairies. In Manitoba in 2013, 1% of kochia populations surveyed had at least one plant with glyphosate resistance. By 2018, that Manitoba percentage had increased to _______? 

 

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