With canola remaining in high demand with good prices, growers are looking for ways to grow as much as possible while maintaining sound and sustainable rotations. With Clearfield canola, they have the option of an alternative weed-control system, including for canola volunteers, plus access to premium canola marketing options for high-quality specialty oil.
“There are two key differentiating factors that come from Clearfield canola,” says Kerry Freeman, category leader, canola with Corteva Agriscience. “First there are the agronomics. Clearfield uses a Group 2 herbicide for weed control, which is a different mode of action than any of the other canola production systems, and allows growers to open up their herbicide options both for their canola production and throughout their full rotation.
“The Clearfield system was developed using traditional plant breeding techniques, and has an identity preserved end-use market so growers can sign a premium contract to reduce some pricing risk.”
Freeman says Clearfield canola acreage, while comparatively small relative to overall production in Canada, is strong, predictable and marketable. “The Canadian industry is responsive to consumer preferences and consumer demand so we have worked to develop an end-use canola product that meets those needs. The end-use demand for Clearfield canola continues to outpace supply.”
Before they could create an oil that end-use consumers demanded, the company needed to develop a canola that farmers wanted to grow. In recent years, Corteva has worked with its seed partners to bridge some gaps in hybrid performance. It now has Clearfield hybrids with more flexible agronomic traits such as resistance to blackleg and clubroot, as well as HarvestMax, a maximum yield management trait that provides growers with the flexibility to swath, delay swath or straight cut.
The Group 2 performance from the two herbicides under the Clearfield system — Ares and Amity — offers residual control of grass and broadleaf weeds from a single pass, a control option not offered by other canola herbicides. Both products are also effective at taking down broadleaf volunteers including volunteer canola left by other systems, which can be a rotational concern.
“The Clearfield system offers growers a different path to success with Group 2 chemistry,” says Freeman. “Growers can take a look at where they are using Group 2 throughout their entire crop rotation and see where they can take advantage of this opportunity to get on top of some potential resistance issues and deal with some of their agronomic challenges while still harvesting a highyielding,
marketable canola crop.”
AGRONOMIC FLEXIBILITY
“Canola growers tend to gravitate toward the most simple option that is going to give them the best return while addressing their regional concerns,” says Keith Gabert, agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. He says that one of the key concerns for all canola growers on the Prairies today is herbicide resistance, and growers should always be thinking about what is in their tank.
“Weeds are always a background concern, and new weed concerns can come from anywhere,” he says. “A grower can bring some new land into production with unexpected resistant weeds, weather patterns, blow-in weeds or a crop rotation can change their weed profile. On a field-by-field basis, growers look for a weakness in how their crop is being managed and each year they look to see if there is anything they can do to address it.” Gabert says one of the big weed issues for growers is volunteer canola, both in other rotational crops and in subsequent canola rotations. He says canola seeds are small and hard to eliminate, and volunteers can rob yield throughout a grower’s rotation.
“In any other rotation, growers have a large number of herbicides they can use to address volunteers but it can be tricky when they rotate back into canola,” he says. “They try to manage volunteers with a pre-burn and keep their fields clean with glyphosate, but with glyphosate-resistant weeds also a concern, growers have to be careful how they use this important tool.”
Gabert says that control of volunteer canola is especially critical when growers are pushing their canola rotations, which is tempting when canola prices are high. He says when pushing for highest possible yields, growers need to make sure they are achieving optimal plant stands, and volunteers make for a too thick, deceiving and difficult-tomanage plant stand. He says this is when changing to other systems that use different modes of action can become advantageous.
“Yield is always key, then growers look at one or two traits that are important to them,” he says. “Herbicide decisions tend to be based on what weeds they saw in the past and what products they have used in the past. A Group 2 with residual control can keep things simple as long as it fits into that grower’s rotation. It’s always a balancing act.”
ACCESS TO A PREMIUM MARKET
Clearfield canola growers can also benefit through identity-preserved marketing opportunities to guarantee their return on investment, and mitigate the risks associated with fluctuating canola markets. Viterra operates North America’s two largest double expellerpressed process crushers, where they process Clearfield and Nexera Clearfield high-oleic canola oil hybrids. The hybrids, along with the doubleexpeller process used to extract the oil, meet the ‘clean label’ requirements and specifications of their end-use customers.
“We are always looking for the acres to meet the demand in this growing segment,” says Mark Riou, merchandising manager, Viterra Oilseed Processing. “Through double expeller press crushing capabilities, we are able to crush this canola by using pressure instead of solvents, which makes a healthier canola option that meets the clean labelling demands of the natural product segment of the market.”
Riou says that a segment of the specialty oil market, primarily the healthier snack food market, is looking for a health-conscious oil that they can produce using Clearfield canola. In addition to their crushing processes, their customers appreciate that they can trace their product back to the farm level as Viterra collects the seed directly from the farm through its on-farm pickup program.
“Food manufacturers and consumers are becoming increasingly interested in knowing where their food ingredients come from,” says Riou. “In the last decade, demand for Clearfield has grown over 10 times and we anticipate continued strong growth.” The Nexera Clearfield varieties we contract are high oleic, which creates a natural, highly stable ingredient, making them perfect for the snack food industry.”
Riou says there is real growth potential in this specialty market, and the contract provides farm customers with access to reliable, steady demand from domestic customers. He says during the global pandemic, while demand for conventional canola oils took a nosedive when restaurants closed, the demand for specialty oils used in healthier snacks increased, a trend they see continuing even after everything reopens.
“We provide five different delivery windows for Clearfield canola growers, and any producer can sign up,” says Riou. “It’s a complete on-farm program and we send out trucks to pick up the canola. If a farm customer chooses to pick a deferred delivery window, we pay to store it until the next window. It’s an easy way for farmers to reduce their risk.”
The Clearfield IP program has grown substantially in the past two years and Viterra is optimistic it will continue to grow in the future. With Clearfield canola, growers have all the tools they need to take on both the agronomic and market challenges to increase their margins on canola production.
