When you look at Canola Performance Trial data, look at how a variety yields at every site, not just those closest to your farm and not just the overall average. The statistical significance of results increases with more sites analyzed, but digging deeper will show how the variety performed under different stresses, soil types and growing conditions. Read more for…
Plant establishment
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For the variety you have chosen to reach its full potential, it is important to get an adequate number of healthy plants growing. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada surveys of canola fields in Alberta in 2010 and Saskatchewan fields in 2012 found that only about half of fields achieved an average of 5 plants or more per square foot. Canola plant…
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It has been a very dry two months, as the map shows. Several products with high carryover risk are broken down almost exclusively through hydrolysis — the process of water splitting the herbicide molecule in two. Hydrolytic breakdown of herbicides decreases in drought, as you can imagine, and adsorption of herbicide to soil particles is increased, both of which will…
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Dry soils will be difficult to penetrate, and tillage will destroy standing stubble and its snow-catching capability. We can’t predict winter weather, but this extra moisture may be valuable next spring. Turning the soil can also cause a heavy flush of weeds from long buried seeds that have lost their dormancy, and burial of weed seeds and shattered canola seed…
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Canola needed 10 plants per square foot to deal with everything that came along in 2012 and still come through with a decent yield. A stubble count this fall will determine how many plants made it through to harvest…
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You maybe went to a field to scout for flea beetles, but take time to look around. Consider all possible causes when you notice uneven emergence, patchy growth and unthrifty plants. Get a second opinion when necessary. You need to know what caused a problem before you can take effective corrective action…