Should I reseed wind-damaged canola?

High winds can blow seeds and seedlings right out of the ground, especially if topsoil is dry. Wind can blast the growing point off emerged seedlings, causing death. Wind can also blow topsoil off knolls, taking seed with it. This moving soil can also bury other seedlings. In short, wind alone can create a need to reseed the crop.

So can flea beetles, frost, crusting, seedling diseases, low seed survival and inadequate seeding rates. Reasons for missing plants.

When growers have canola stands of fewer than four plants per square foot — due to low seeding rates, poor emergence, insects*, crusting, frost, wind, etc. — they grapple with the question whether to reseed. An established uniform canola stand with as few as two plants per square foot generally has higher economic potential than a thicker stand reseeded late. This population is far below the minimum five per square foot generally required to meet yield potential, but a thin stand seeded early has greater economic potential (considering cost of production, yield and quality) than an adequate stand that doesn’t get established until mid to late June.

How to work through the reseeding decision.