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If growers have to seed by plane because the field is too wet for a broadcast floater, that means it’s probably also too wet for weed control, fertilizing and harrowing — each important to a profitable broadcast canola crop…
Plant establishment
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Seeding deep to chase moisture is rarely a good idea early in the season. That situation changes with the warm soils of mid to late May. Seeding 1.5” to 2” deep to hit moisture will hasten germination and crop establishment in fields where the top 1” is too dry to allow germination and emergence…
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Scouting now will identify early insect and weed pressure, identify establishment problems that may have been the result of drill settings or drill malfunction, and give you a benchmark to work from in the event of frost or wind losses…
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The economic return will be higher than if the grower seeded over these large weeds and then took a chance on getting them sprayed before crop emergence…
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It may be tempting to try other products, but these products are not registered. The whole point of controlling volunteer canola and early weeds is to give the canola crop a head start. But if unregistered herbicides are setting back the canola crop and thinning the stand, the whole purpose of a pre-seed burnoff is compromised… -
A thin stand at the end of May has better yield and quality potential than the alternative, which is reseeding. The key is to protect those few plants. Thresholds for everything are lower with a thin stand… -
Safe rates of seed placed fertilizer depend on seedbed moisture conditions, soil type, row-width utilization, and nitrogen source. For example, the safe rate of seed-placed nitrogen is only 10 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre when using a 1” knife on 9” spacing and seeding into moist, medium soils… -
Given the importance of a good seed bed for canola, it may be worth waiting an extra day or two for fields to dry out some more instead of rushing to seed canola into or onto mud. Try the drill first to assess the seed placement situation before choosing the broadcast option — which can be especially risky on no-till…
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Growers seeding into less than ideal conditions or using less than ideal seeding equipment — broadcast, for example — may want to lower their fertilizer rates at seeding then top up if a good stand emerges and if growing conditions improve…
