Researchers are investigating whether farmers can reduce canola seeding
rates but still get good yields.
They have long observed that canola plants grow taller and set more
branches if not crowded. Disease might also be reduced if there is room
for air to circulate, they speculate.
They’ve experimented with reduced seeding rates to see if thinner
stands will produce the same yield as more densely populated fields.
The results so far are not conclusive, but are promising enough to
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continue the research.
Agronomists with the Canola Council of Canada are testing the concept
at several of the council’s crop production centres across the Prairies.
Senior agronomist Jim Bessel said an issue that must be addressed to
make reduced seeding rates viable is the problem of uniform seed
placement when seeding rates are as low as three pounds per acre.
“Even with the advancements in seeding technology that we have with the
air seeders out there today, we still have to have that distribution of
seed within the seed row to be more defined yet if you go to lower
seeding rates,” he said in an interview during the Saskatchewan Canola
Growers annual meeting in Saskatoon.
The goal is evenly spaced seed in the seed row so that the crop stand
will be uniform and the canopy will close in evenly to shade out weeds.
Also, evenly spaced plants have room to efficiently take up moisture
and nutrients.
The solution might be to bulk up the seed with another similar-sized
material so that the seeder can lay down heavier rates per acre, but
with only three pounds of the total being canola seed.
Elemental sulfur pellets at a rate of 10 to 30 lb. per acre is a
candidate for the bulk-up material. It is called Precise CS and is
manufactured by Taurus Technology Inc.
Farmers could also use a neutral product such as corn grit, but sulfur
is a key nutrient for canola crops.
“We know that elemental sulfur doesn’t necessarily become available in
the year of placement,” Bessel said.
“However, through oxidization there is a slight amount that may be made
available to the plant, maybe not instantly, but later on during crop
development.”
That could come in handy because sulfur directly affects the plant’s
ability to produce protein in the seed.
The sulfur-bulking tests ran at four sites. The seeding rate
comparisons were three lb. per acre of canola, five lb. of canola, and
three lb. of canola plus 20 lbs of elemental sulfur.
At some of the test sites, council agrologists noted it appeared the
sulfur test plots flowered better, but there were no significant
differences in yield among the three. The test plot where only three
lb. of canola were planted produced the best financial return because
it had the lowest seeding cost.
“But we were dealing with a lot of drought this year and it is only one
year (of testing.)”
Also, adding elemental sulfur could be viewed as soil building, he
said. It could benefit subsequent crops as it slowly oxidizes.
“Other crops use sulfur, too,” Bessel said.”It could be a cost benefit.
It’s sort of like an insurance policy.”
The complete results of the study are available in the latest Canola
Production Centre Report, or by calling the council at 204-982-2100.
