Reading Time: 5 minutes If Dan Orchard had not discovered clubroot in an Alberta canola field in 2003, we’d all be in ignorant bliss right now. Orchard really should have recognized the scientific principle that if something isn’t “discovered,” then it doesn’t exist and we don’t have to worry about it. He should have left well enough alone, as […] Read more
A costly approach to dealing with crop insects and weeds
A head-in-the-sand approach to unfamiliar insects, diseases and weeds simply won't do. Be observant. Early identification and fast action — when required — are best
A busy year for flea beetles in canola
Beetles galore! Best practices for 2016 remain seed treatment and good stand establishment
Reading Time: 4 minutes The new generation of adult flea beetles was thick on canola fields in August, nibbling pods and capping off what had been a busy year for the costly insect pest. Bob Elliott, integrated pest management scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Saskatoon, saw a fivefold increase in adults captured in sticky traps in […] Read more
The right amount of harvest loss
Here’s how to find that optimum balance between harvest efficiency and lower field losses
Reading Time: 6 minutes Combines can easily throw more than a couple of bushels per acre of canola without drawing any notice from the operator. Yet that hidden loss can add up. Two bushels per acre tossed with the chaff amounts to $3,200 per 160 acres (based on the round number of $10 per bushel of canola) and it […] Read more
Are you ‘always wrong’ at camp sclerotinia?
Your decision to spray essentially comes down to one simple equation
Reading Time: 6 minutes Ah, all the joys of summer camp… first loves, campfires and archery supremacy. And don’t forget wood ticks, swimmer’s itch and the stench of a cabin on weiners and beans night. In fact, it probably isn’t too big a stretch to say that the way we remember summer camp is probably as diverse as the […] Read more
Is your soil lacking phosphorous? How to diagnose nutrient deficiency
Phosphorus deficiency is hard to identify and often goes unnoticed — even when significant yield loss can be occurring. Will an extra 20 lbs./ac. of phosphate pay off?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Soil phosphorus levels are critically low in more and more fields. These fields may no longer provide enough phosphorus for crops to reach their yield potential, which means the solution to yield stagnation — on some fields, at least — could be plain old boring phosphate. Canola takes up around 1.5 pounds of phosphate per […] Read more
Your soil needs crop diversity
Stacked rotations may be worth more research, but until then, diversity is your best profit management tool
Reading Time: 4 minutes Healthy soil is the craziest, busiest jungle you can imagine. One gram of clubroot-infested soil can have a billion clubroot spores. A billion! All in a pinch of soil the size of a Skittle! Fusariums, pythiums, rhizoctonia and countless other beneficial fungi, bacteria and microbes are there, too. So are ions and molecules of calcium, […] Read more
The ultimate N rate for canola
If we could predict the weather perfectly, it might be different, but in the real world, the best tool to determine nitrogen rates is the soil test. It’s a great starting point for 2015
Reading Time: 5 minutes One lesson from the Ultimate Canola Challenge is that it’s a wise economic decision to follow your soil test recommendations for nitrogen. “We have always recommended soil tests to get an idea of the nutrient situation in a field, and what really pleased us about the Ultimate Canola Challenge results is how strongly they confirmed […] Read more
Managing your binned canola to prevent losses
A lot of high-risk canola went into bins in 2014, and by November, reports of heated canola had already started to pick up. Have you checked your bins lately?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Kristen Phillips knew she was putting high-risk canola in the bin. The Canola Council of Canada agronomy specialist, who farms near Brandon, Man. with her husband, Garrett, seeded a lot of crop late due to excess spring rains. And because they had to dodge potholes and seed when they could, a lot of the late-seeded […] Read more
Herbicide-resistant weeds are our biggest threat
There’s no reason why the West must become an Arkansas-style nightmare because of weed resistance, but we may be heading there anyway
Reading Time: 7 minutes Neil Harker calls herbicide-resistant weeds the biggest threat to sustainable crop production in Western Canada. “We’ve been the grim reaper talking about this for ages, but this is a watershed moment,” says the research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lacombe, Alta. “There are places in North America going back to the plow and […] Read more
Cut canola later, combine slower come harvest
Canola harvest losses can be a lot worse than you think. Swathing later is one way to boost yield. Refining your combine ground speed and other settings is another
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canola growers are leaving a lot of yield on the table. Or, more accurately, they are leaving a lot of yield “off” the table and on the ground at harvest. Estimates put losses from the harvest process alone at two to five bu./ac., on average. Early swathing adds to that total. Growers have two key ways […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
