Photo: Robin Booker

Decent yields in dry times

It might not be the drought many western Canadian growers recall when thinking back to the 2023 crop, but the canola yields they harvested despite it. There’s no question that conditions through the growing season were hard on yields, but one of the more perplexing things for me as we put together our first canola […] Read more

Taken near Kipling, Sask. by Shelby LaRose @Shelby_LaRose01

Canola views – photo essay

Photos submitted via X. Other stories in the 2023 Canola Yearbook: Decent yields in dry times Canola growing season in review Spraying in dry times can be tricky Flying the fields Hormone imbalance suspected for malformed racemes Incorporating resistant traits weighs on yields Production briefs Pest roundup: Canola pests kept in check by dry conditions […] Read more

Photo: Robin Booker

Canola growing season in review

The main concern going into the 2023 canola growing season was extremely low soil moisture levels. Dry conditions during the 2022 growing season depleted soil moisture reserves across most of Western Canada. The moisture deficits were most acute in Saskatchewan and Alberta, which were rated as very dry and contained nearly zero moisture below six […] Read more


Hot weather increases evaporation and heat-stressed plants absorb herbicides slowly, but inversions are common when the sun is down.  Photo taken near Russell Man. by Mark Laycock. @LaycockMark

Spraying in dry times can be tricky

Heat waves and dry weather added to the headaches faced by canola producers during spraying season. “The main concern with the heat is just the evaporation of water from the droplets, and that causes two main problems,” said Tom Wolf, owner of Agrimetrics Research and Training based in Saskatoon. Other stories in the 2023 Canola […] Read more

University of Saskatchewan graduate student Kaylie Krys pilots a drone over a Saskatchewan field. She and colleague Erik Andvaag have developed proof-of-concept of a method to rapidly scout fields for canola germination and presence of weeds. Photo:  Chris Hendrickson/University of Saskatchewan

Flying the fields

Researchers are increasingly augmenting the time-honoured practice of walking the fields to check for pest and disease pressure, germination or performance with eyes in the sky such as orbital satellites, drone-mounted cameras and combinations of both. For example, free online tools such as the SKSIS Mapper developed through the University of Saskatchewan’s soil science department […] Read more




New Holland’s new CR11 combine showcases a significant boost in processing capacity, but with the same weight and width as previous models. Photo: John Greig

Production briefs

New Holland reveals CR11 New Holland’s CR11 combine has a 775 horsepower C16 engine mounted lengthwise so that it spins in the same direction as the rotors. Geert Nerinckx of New Holland said the combine is bigger than what’s currently on the market. “Our goal with this new combine was to bring down the total […] Read more


Striped flea beetles typically become active two weeks earlier than the crucifer flea beetle. This image of striped flea beetles on volunteer canola was taken this spring at an Ag Canada research plot near Saskatoon, Sask. Photo: Tyler Wist

Pest roundup: Canola pests kept in check by dry conditions

Pests of canola including flea beetles, green worms of multiple types, cut worm, alfalfa loopers, blister beetles, lygus bugs, diamondback moths and more were present last summer. However, there wasn’t a massive pest event in 2023 that dramatically affected canola plants across multiple growing regions, other than grasshoppers in drier areas. Other stories in the […] Read more