There could be some legal strings attached to crops of volunteer canola, particularly if producers hope to grow them to harvest this fall.
There have been questions this year about the potential of the volunteers because producers in some parts of the Prairies could not seed because of wet fields.
In the case of a volunteer Roundup Ready canola crop, producers are advised to contact Monsanto to discuss their options.
“If you’re just going to leave it in your field to try and soak up some of the moisture, and you’re not going to take it to harvest, that’s fine. There’s no cost associated with that,” said Monsanto spokesperson Trish Jordan.
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“If they’re actually going to try and harvest a Round-Up Ready volunteer crop, they can do that, but they would pay $15 (per acre) for the use of the technology.”
Under either scenario, Monsanto would like to be notified. The company does not recommend growing a volunteer canola crop for harvest, but can provide representatives to talk about management options.
“Agronomically speaking we don’t think it’s the right thing to do and we don’t think they’re going to have success with it, but we’re more than willing to talk with them and work it through,” Jordan said.
Bayer CropScience Inc. also has a policy regarding volunteer LibertyLink hybrid canola. The bottom line from Bayer is that the company will not seek a payment from producers wanting to take those volunteers through to harvest this year.
“We understand why growers are doing this,” said Paul Thiel, the company’s vice-president of industry relations in Calgary.
“We’re not going to be pursuing any sort of action.”
In a statement, the company said it recognizes that excess moisture in Manitoba’s Interlake region and Red River Valley has left growers with a question about letting their volunteers grow.
“In principle, a grower is not allowed by Bayer to leave a LibertyLink canola crop, since this does not constitute an intended use,” said the company statement.
“However, in this particular case of excess rainfall where the grower cannot plant a crop, and is therefore left with no other option, Bayer will allow a grower to leave the volunteer LibertyLink canola crop located in the Red River Valley and the Interlake region to use up excess water, and to harvest if suitable.”
Bayer will not provide any warranty on the volunteer canola crop.
In the case of volunteer Clearfield open-pollinated canola, there are no legal issues, said Rob Park of Manitoba Agriculture on the department’s website.
