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Crop establishment

The following articles are categorized as 'Crop establishment'

• Tips to increase seed survival

  If growers are unable to modify agronomic practices to increase survival rates, their only choice to achieve the minimum recommended 7 plants per square foot is to use a higher seeding rate.

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• Dense uniform stand key for first time growers

  A canola crop that starts off strong provides a buffer against most other problems that may occur throughout the season. New growers who may not be familiar with the pests and harvest management quirks of canola will benefit most from this buffer.

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• Test carryover seed

  If seed carried over on the farm comes back with a low germination test, it is probably best to keep that seed separate and increase the seeding rate accordingly, assuming the viability is still high enough to be worth planting. If you can’t wait for germination test results before seeding, get the test anyway. If any problems arise with emergence, the germination test will be an important clue.

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• Scout early to detect seedling diseases

  Growers who seeded canola a couple weeks ago will want to start scouting now for emergence issues. Often if seed and seedlings are damaged by rots and blights, which tend to be a more common occurrence in cool soils, they will quickly dry up and disappear. You need to act fast to accurately diagnose the problem.

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• Attend our Seeding for Success webinar

  Canola growers and agronomists facing last minute seed and fertilizer purchases, and who are wondering about seeding rates for large-sized seed, will benefit from a Canola Council of Canada (CCC) webinar this Thursday. The one-hour webinar, called “Seeding for Success,” is May 3, at 9:00 a.m. CDT.

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• Control weeds early, save yield

  Even if growers don’t expect to seed any time soon, they may want to consider a pre-seed burnoff now to get weeds at smaller stages and before they draw down moisture and nutrients that their canola crops will need. Products registered for use ahead of canola are CleanStart, Amitrol 240 and glyphosate.

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• Seeding based on soil temperature

  A good starting point for seeding canola is when the three-day average soil temperature in the seed zone is 4-5 C. Use a soil thermometer and take readings at 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. over a few days and average the results. Because canola is seeded at 1” deep, test the soil temperature at that depth.

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• Wide range of seed weights

  If you plan to seed at 5 pounds per acre regardless of seed size, know the risks. Large-size seed planted at 5 pounds per acre may not achieve the safe minimum plant stand of 7 plants per square foot.

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• Risk higher for herbicide carryover

  Herbicide carryover risk could be higher this year because some products may not have broken down as expected in 2011 due to extreme conditions. Also, with the increase in canola acres, some canola will go on land not planned for canola when growers made there herbicide decisions last year.

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• Canola not the best for fresh-broken pasture

  With Statistics Canada’s forecast of a record 20.4 million canola acres in Canada in 2012, some of those acres may be going onto freshly-broken pasture land. Expectations will be very low for canola seeded into these conditions because of weed competition, low nutrients, low moisture, poor seedbed, poor soil quality and wireworms.

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