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A lot of Prairie canola is in a serious storage situation. A crusher has already received one load of 2011 canola with 18% heated kernels. The canola was combined only three weeks ago and was binned dry — but at 30 C or more. Excess heat is dangerous. The Prairies have had two heat waves during this harvest and some…
Canola Watch Posts
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Frost hit many parts of the Prairies last night and earlier this week. The big questions for growers are: How soon after a frost should I swath? Or if I……
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Peace (B.C. and Alberta): Swathing is nearly complete in the north and at around 50% complete, on average, for the rest of the territory. Rain has slowed progress the past……
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If you check too early after a frost, the full extent of frost damage may not be evident. The crop may look undamaged that morning but by lunch time, wilting, desiccation and pod splitting may begin. If you scout early and then not again, you may underestimate the damage and miss a chance to swath now to save some of… -
If the forecast is for frost tonight, growers will not see much benefit to swathing today if canola is still green. With a light frost, crop left standing will still have a chance to mature further. A heavy frost will lock in high green counts unless the crop has adequate dry down time to achieve a seed moisture of 20%…
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This time of year, mature canola seeds can take a long time to turn brown or black. Growers wondering why seed color change is taking so long may want to check the fields again and look for these other signs of maturity: All seeds are firm to roll. White/yellow banding. No skin peeling… -
Many canola fields that were swathed too early or during hot weather or both will have dried down without sufficient enzyme breakdown of seed chlorophyll, resulting in a high green count. Fields that are dry (less than 10% moisture) and still have 5% green are unlikely to see that green count drop much, unless canola seed moisture rises back up…
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Canola harvested hot last week should be on aeration to cool it down. In one case, canola that went into the bin at 35 C and 6% moisture had climbed to 39 C and was starting to smell within a week. Dry canola is not safe if binned hot…
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The European Union (EU) has implemented the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) which sets out a 10% mandate for biofuels. The RED requires that all feedstock used to produce biodiesel for the EU market must meet minimum sustainability criteria and be certified as sustainable. All canola exported for the RED market must have a certificate of sustainability attached, and all growers…
