WILLINGDON, Alta. – When Greg Porozni seeded canola last fall for this spring’s direct seeding demonstration plot, he thought it would be a demonstration on how not to seed canola.
A combination of rain and freezing weather froze his field solid. It was -20 C on Oct. 27 when the Willingdon-area farmer seeded the 20 acres of Roundup Ready canola into chunky soil.
“I thought it was going to be a wreck. If nothing else, it would be a demonstration on what not to do,” said Porozni, a member of Crop Masters, a group of farmers who helped organize the direct seeding field day in northern Alberta.
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Instead of a canola disaster site, Porozni was standing in a crop a foot high and starting to flower on the June 10 field day.
Depending on how the crop yields, Porozni expects to seed a quarter of his canola acreage this way next year.
The fall-seeded, early seeding and regular seeding date demonstration was designed to encourage more farmers to look at seeding herbicide-tolerant Argentine canola, rather than the shorter-season but lower yielding Polish varieties, said Jay Byer, Alberta Agriculture’s crop specialist in Bonnyville.
Both the fall-seeded and early-seeded canola germinated well and were beginning to flower by the demonstration day when some farmers were still planting Polish canola.
“With this we should get Argentine off when we’re used to getting Polish off.
“It should replace Polish canola by planting very early in the spring or in the fall,” said Byer.
There are two keys to planting canola in the fall or early spring, he said. It’s important to use a herbicide-resistant canola and to direct seed the crop into stubble.
In the past, the early spring flush of weeds was a problem. Using the herbicide-tolerant variety Quest, Porozni sprayed the crop May 3 and June 3 with a half litre of Roundup per acre each time to kill winter annuals and wild oats.
Seeding into a stubble field is important to trap snow and prevent the field from warming too quickly in the spring.
The canola seed coat was also covered with a plastic-type polymer to delay germination and protect the seed during winter.
Fall seeding allows the crop to miss typical canola diseases and pests like sclerotinia and bertha armyworm.
Porozni expects to start harvesting in the second or third week of August.
But it’s still a risky business, said Ken Kirkland, manager of the Agriculture Canada Research Station in Scott, Sask., who has done most of the research into fall and early-seeded canola.
“You still have to go late enough to ensure no germination. That becomes the guessing game,” said Kirkland.
The trick is to plant the canola late enough in fall so the seed does not take up water and start to germinate. The plastic polymer is one way to help prevent water absorption.
“If we can harness it, it’s the cat’s pajamas. The potential is great, but can we capture it? That’s the question,” said Kirkland, who has begun work to determine best seeding dates, rates, varieties and germination inhibitors.
