Recent research has found that even stands are key to successfully growing canola.
Doug Moisey of the Canola Council of Canada says an even stand of four plants per sq. foot yields as much as another even one of eight.
Agronomists have also found that in average seasonal conditions, an uneven plant stand of four plants per sq. foot yields 21 percent less than an even stand of canola of eight plants.
Moisey said this shows that even plant stands are more important than growing the ideal number of plants.
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“You want to target 10 (plants per sq. foot), knowing there will be losses that reduce that number,” he said.
Based on a prairie-wide average yield of 32 bushels per acre, a 21 percent yield reduction due to an unevenly developed stand costs growers 6.3 bu.
At $12.25 per bu., this means an uneven stand costs growers $77.18 per acre, $12,348 per quarter and $50,000 per section.
“Some of the yield issues won’t be obvious until later in the season,” said Moisey.
“It can be a tough decision at harvest. Thirty percent of the crop is ready to cut, 40 needs a few more days and 30 is two weeks away.
Losses on the ground at one end, green seed at the other. You can’t win,” he said.
A lack of uniformity has many causes: deep seeding, uneven seed depth, a lack of pop-up phosphate with the seed and a seeding rate target that accepts that only 50 to 60 percent of germinated seed may develop into viable plants.
Moisey said the most important way to ensure a uniform plant stand is to check behind the seeder in areas where the machine was operating at speed, away from headlands.
“Go back 30 yards from the unit. You want all the seed at the same depth, preferably shallow, half to three-quarters of an inch.
If it’s not even, then you need to slow down. And check it in every field, don’t just set it and forget it for the season.”
Agronomists say cold seedbeds lower than 5 C can increase mortality by 10 to 20 percent.
Ideally, soil temperatures would be 10 C for germination.
Canola that was planted in mid-April in the most southern areas of the Prairies has yet to emerge because of cold spring conditions.
“If it’s been 10 days or two weeks and you haven’t seen your crop up, then it’s time to investigate. Check to see if those seeds are still firm or if they’ve gone mushy,” Moisey said.
“Ninety percent of the crop problems I encounter are due to farmer error.”
