Don’t cut back too far on fertilizer for canola this spring.
Canola Council of Canada agronomists David Blais and Jim Bessel say with soil moisture conditions generally better than they have been for the past few years, canola should respond well to added nutrients.
With fertilizer prices high this year, they are encouraging growers to invest a little time and money to figure out exactly how much fertilizer it will take to produce the best return.
Consecutive years of drought and last year’s frost have left many producers in a cash crunch this spring, but Blais said fertilizer should still be one of a grower’s top input priorities.
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“Crops grown with good soil moisture conditions will need adequate nutrition to maximize yields and profit,” he said. “And although nitrogen prices are high, that moisture should enable the crop to convert added nutrients into increased yield.”
He offers a couple rules of thumb when establishing target yields based on available moisture:
- First 75-100 millimetres of water builds the crop factory.
- Each additional 25 mm of water should generate four to six bushels an acre of canola.
To help match need to input, the agronomists suggest growers look at previous field history. For example, for fields with a record of low weed pressure, it could make sense to spend more money on fertilizer than to save it for additional herbicide applications that shouldn’t be necessary.
Bessel said if optimum moisture conditions continue to increase potential for a positive return, then growers should apply a top dressing treatment of nitrogen and sulfur.
Bessel cautioned that a top dressing generally needs to be applied before bolting, and the earlier the better to improve the odds of a positive return.
