Are the risks associated with planting before temperatures can support a crop worth potential benefits?
When early seeding works it means early harvest and reduced odds of frost damage in the fall, hail and other risk factors. If ultra-early seeding works, it can also provide a grade benefit.Tag Archives ultra-early seeding
Dormant: fall-seeded winter crops
University of Alberta researcher Graham Collier explains, “In dormant seeding you want the ground cold as possible, so seed sits there without germinating until the following spring. You don’t want the crop to get snow right away because that might insulate the soil and maintain too much heat. If you get germination in the fall, that crop will die. You have a very narrow window of opportunity.
Three years ultra-early on-farm experience
“I think it’s definitely a risk. But I think the upside outweighs the downside, especially in our country out here at Consort (eastern Alberta),” said Farley.
