1. Shallow seeding
Seeding canola at one-half inch in depth with good soil to seed contact can improve overall maturity by three to four days compared to seeds placed at an inch or more.
2. Increase seeding rate
A higher seeding rate results in a denser stand, which reduces time consuming plant branching and reduces pest related yield losses
3. Reduce nitrogen rates at seeding to keep the plant’s vegetative period lower. More nitrogen can be applied after the crop is developing.
4. Place phosphate with the seed to gain a day or two of production time due to the pop-up effect with the plants.
5. Switch to an earlier maturing variety. An earlier napus might be a week ahead of a later one and a rapa variety could give a two week advantage. But keep in mind the rapa won’t have the yield or herbicide advantages.
For more information on late planting of canola the Canola Council of Canada has information online at www.canolawatch.org/2011/05/26/when-is-too-late-to-seed-canola-2/
