How early is too early to seed?

This graph from Alberta Agriculture and Food shows that in dry years (1999-2001), canola seeded in late April in the brown soil zone outyielded canola seeded in May.

Southern Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan may have soil temperatures adequate for canola establishment and just enough moisture for emergence, but should they seed now?

Prep jobs for April

Seeding small

Seeding in April is not usually recommended or beneficial for canola (except perhaps late-April seeding in southern Alberta). Here are a few things you could do now….

Ultimate Canola Challenge 2016 — Growers wanted!

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Growers who want to run an Ultimate Canola Challenge trial in 2016 can contact CCC agronomy specialist Nicole Philp at philpn@canolacouncil.org or 306-551-4597. This collaboration gives growers a chance to learn first-hand how to run an effective on-farm trial.

Do you value high quality, third party canola variety data?

The Canola Performance Trials (CPT) Committee wants to see if you find value in these high-quality, unbiased, timely trials and how you think the program could improve going forward. Please click here to fill out a quick survey to provide us with the information we need to serve you better.

What saved 2015?

Canola's ability to produce more branches and continue to flower and set seed help it turn around when growing conditions improve.

Brassica napus is semi-determinant in its growth, which means it can produce new growing points from leaf axils. When conditions change to provide more moisture, nutrients or heat, secondary and tertiary branch growth can extend flowering or even initiate secondary flowering. This can produce a significant increase in yield as long as fall conditions allow for maturation.

Fertilizer and rotation planning

Fertilizer planning: Growers with soil tests, particularly for poor performing fields in 2015, have valuable background information for making informed fertilizer rate decisions for 2016.
Rotation planning: This is a good time to go over notes for disease levels in 2015. Fields where disease levels were noticeably higher than in the past will benefit from a longer rotation away from canola.

Consider tillage wisely

Discing

Western Canada has made great strides in adopting minimum tillage practices that save time and diesel fuel, improve soils and improve sustainability scores. Here are factors to consider before choosing the tillage option….