The grain company rejoined the organization at its March 12 annual general meeting after nearly a nine-year hiatus.

“Richardson is a significant player in the industry in a number of different capacities, including as an exporter and processor, so it’s great to have them around the table as a member of the council,” said council president Chris Davison.

Richardson withdrew its funding from the canola council, the Flax Council of Canada and Soy Canada at the end of 2017.

It had been spending more than $1 million per year funding the three organizations.

“We don’t think we got the value out of it,” Jean-Marc Ruest, Richardson’s senior vice-president of corporate affairs, said at the time.

Davison said the council maintained a working relationship with Richardson over the ensuing years.

Recently he discussed the council’s updated priorities with the grain company.

“That led to a decision from them to rejoin the council as a regular member,” he said.

WHY IT MATTERS: Richardson was the only major grain company that was not a member of the council.

He doesn’t know what tipped the scale.

“That’s a question you might have to ask them,” said Davison.

“I think it’s more than one thing.”

Richardson was contacted for this story but did not reply in time to meet The Western Producer’s publication deadline.

One of Richardson’s original concerns surrounded the council’s extensive work on agronomy when the private sector had its own agronomists working in the countryside.

The council seemingly addressed that concern when it announced a “refreshed” strategic framework on July 31, 2025.

In that announcement, the organization said it would no longer maintain a field-based agronomy team.

Davison said the council will instead focus on maintaining or enhancing the ability to innovate, promoting canola’s role in biofuel, ensuring market access for canola products and conducting targeted market development around the world.

Exporters and processors provided $1.33 million, or 36 per cent, of the council’s core funding in 2025.

That compares to $1.55 million contributed by provincial grower groups, $750,000 from life science companies and $21,000 from affiliate memberships.

Davison would not divulge how much Richardson would be paying in 2026.

“We don’t talk about the amounts that individual organizations contribute,” he said.

However, he noted that it will be helpful to have the grain company back in the fold when it comes to tackling priorities and co-ordinating and aligning activities.

“The more of the industry that we have represented at the table the better that is,” said Davison.

Aaron Anderson of Richardson is one of three new directors for 2026-27. He will be a director-at-large nominated by the council’s board.

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Aaron Anderson of Richardson International is listed as one of three new directors for 2026-27.

Anderson will be a director-at-large nominated by the council’s board.

It is an interesting development because Richardson withdrew its funding from the Canola Council of Canada, the Flax Council of Canada and Soy Canada in late-2017.

It had been spending more than $1 million per year funding the three organizations.

“We don’t think we got the value out of it,” Jean-Marc Ruest, Richardson’s senior vice-president of corporate affairs, said at the time.

WHY IT MATTERS: The board appointment suggest industry heavyweight Richardson may have rejoined the commodity group.^

There were no press releases issued by either the canola council or Richardson about the company rejoining the fold.

The Western Producer has contacted both organizations and is waiting for a reply.

One of Richardson’s original concerns was over the canola council’s extensive work on agronomy when the private sector already had its own agronomists working in the countryside.

“Is there an element of duplication that should be looked at?” said Ruest at the time.

The council seemingly addressed that concern when it announced a “refreshed” strategic framework on July 31, 2025.

In that announcement, the organization said it would no longer maintain a field-based agronomy team.

The council said it would instead focus on three core priorities:

• Sustainable and reliable supply — growing the volume of Canadian canola to meet domestic and global market needs.
• Stable markets for value optimization — growing the economic value of canola by developing and defending markets for Canadian canola and canola products.
• Member service excellence — delivering continued value to members through council services and working to strengthen coordination and engagement with industry partners.

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Earlier that Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a $5 billion package to aid businesses and industries facing tariffs and job losses. Of that, $370 million over two years was designated for canola producers and the domestic biofuel industry. Carney said that includes increasing that maximum interest free portion on the advance payments program from $250,000 to $500,000.

China recently hit its Canadian canola seed imports with a 75.8 per cent levy and previously slapped 100 per cent tariffs on canola oil and meal. The latter measures are believed to be in response to Ottawa’s 100 per cent duties on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles. The surcharge on the seed is part of China’s ongoing investigation into allegations of canola dumping by Canada.

‘Discouraged’

“We are discouraged with the government’s support package for the industry. The measures announced today do not reflect the seriousness of the challenge facing the value chain,” CCC president and CEO Chris Davison said in the press statement.

“Farmers should not be expected to borrow their way out of this situation,” added CCGA president and CEO Rick White. “The advanced payments program is not designed to provide the required support canola farmers need under this situation.”

Davison and White said the changes the federal government says it will make to enhance Canadian biofuel production don’t go far enough.

Rather than implementing financial supports, the two presidents said the feds need to resolve the trade issues with China.

“We are calling on the federal government to urgently work with us to provide meaningful and impactful support for the industry as we continue to navigate this trade crisis,” they said. “The federal government must pursue all avenues to resolve the current trade dispute with China and re-open that market for the Canadian canola industry.”

– With files from Jonah Grignon, Glacier FarmMedia

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The council announced July 31 the five-year framework includes a new focus for the industry and was developed with stakeholders across the value chain.

It said it will concentrate on three core priorities of ensuring sustainable and reliable supply to meet domestic and international needs, increasing the economic value of canola by developing and defending markets and delivering continued value to members.

As a result, the council is realigning its internal structure to meet the new priorities.

“This includes a re-focused agronomy function, with an eye to the future, that works to identify and address threats, production risks and innovations that will impact Canadian canola in the years ahead. As a result, the council will not maintain a field-based agronomy team moving forward,” the council said.

More to come.

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Today the Trump administration confirmed that previously announced tariffs of 25 per cent will be applied to imports of a broad range of Canadian goods, including canola seed, oil, and meal, effective immediately.

“The U.S. decision to go forward with 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian-grown canola and canola products will be felt across the canola value chain, with devastating impacts on farmers, input providers, canola crushing activities, and exports of canola seed, oil, and meal,” said Chris Davison, Canola Council of Canada (CCC) president and CEO, in a media release.

NUMBER ONE CANOLA MARKET

The U.S. is Canada’s number one market for canola exports and also a market that is highly integrated with the Canadian canola industry. Total export value in 2023 was $8.6 billion and in 2024 reached $7.7 billion, with record high volumes including 3.3 million tonnes of canola oil and 3.8 million tonnes of canola meal.

The national canola growers’ group also weighed in.

“The uncertainty created by this situation continues to impact farmers as they inch closer to planting the 2025 crop,” said Rick White, Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) president and CEO. “The damaging blow caused by tariffs will be felt by every canola farmer, starting with the price they receive at delivery and will extend to the full range of their operations, ultimately reducing farm profitability.”

A recent analysis completed by the CCC on the impact Canadian-grown canola has on the U.S. economy also draws attention to the economic benefits the U.S. derives from the Canadian canola industry, which averages US$11.2 billion per year and includes US$1.2 billion in wages.

There is U.S.-based processing and refining, transportation, bottling and packing, and it is also widely used in food products, restaurants, and the livestock sector on that side of the border.

STRENGTHENING TRADE RELATIONSHIPS

The two groups said they will be “focused on strengthening the Canada-U.S. trade relationship and amplifying the mutual benefit our nations receive from canola trade” by conducting advocacy activities in the U.S. and engaging with the Canadian government to advance the canola sector’s interests.

“The canola industry delivers a true win-win for both Canada and the U.S., and we must do everything we can to restore smooth, predictable, tariff-free canola trade between our two countries,” the release read.

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Board elections were held yesterday at the council’s annual general meeting, CCC said in a news release today.

Ritter takes over from Jennifer Marchand, who completed a two-year term as chair but remains as a director on the board.

Chris Anderson of DL Seeds and Tyler Groeneveld of Corteva Agriscience also joined the board. Outgoing members were David Kelner and Ryan McCann.

The CCC board for 2024 to 2025 is:

• Charles Fossay, Manitoba Canola Growers Association
• Justin Nanninga, Alberta Canola Producers Commission
• Dean Roberts, Canadian Canola Growers Association
• Ed Schafer, SaskCanola
• Ryan Law, Bunge
• Tracy Lussier, Louis Dreyfus Company
• Jeff Pleskach, Cargill Ltd.
• Kevin Wright, Archer Daniels Midlands Company
• Jarrett Beatty, Parrish & Heimbecker
• Jennifer Marchand, Cargill Ltd.
• Tessa Ritter, Viterra
• Trevor Veenendall, G3 Canada Ltd.
• Chris Anderson, DL Seeds
• Tyler Groeneveld, Corteva Agriscience
• Garth Hodges, BASF

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In 1967, when the Gardiner Dam backed up the South Saskatchewan River to create the 200-km-long Lake Diefenbaker in the middle of Saskatchewan, the plan was to irrigate 500,000 parched acres. To this day, the giant T-shaped lake — named after Saskatchewan politician and Canada’s 13th Prime Minister, John George Diefenbaker — irrigates only 100,000 to 150,000 acres. “The Dief” is, one might say, an untapped resource, a ’60s-era feat of engineering stuck in vaporization mode. (It is said the lake loses more water to evaporation each year than it gives up for crop watering.)

Meanwhile, Regina has plans for three new canola-processing facilities. The Cargill plant will have capacity to crush up to one million tonnes per year. The AGT and Federated Co-op joint operation could take another million. Viterra could take up to 2.5 million. And over at Yorkton, Richardson is increasing its processing capacity by another million tonnes. Without a corresponding increase in production, many long-term export customers will do without while Canada processes more of its 20-million-tonne supply here at home. If the goal is to satisfy both domestic processors and loyal export customers, the Prairies will have to grow more canola.

Solution: more water

Irrigation is one way to increase productivity. The Nelson family is doing its part. Steve Nelson farms with his father, Rod, and brother, Scott, within the Luck Lake Irrigation District, one of nine tapping into Lake Diefenbaker. They added irrigation pivots to 12 quarter sections in 2022, bringing the farm up to 25 quarters, or about 3,250 acres, of irrigated land. (The circle shape of the pivot covers 125-135 acres within each 160-acre quarter.)

The Nelsons spent about $1,000 to $1,200 per acre for the pivots alone. Each is a quarter-mile-long metal structure of piping, A-frame supports and wheels with electric motors. This silver snake slowly rotates around a central hub that supplies water to the nozzles and power to the wheels. The underground 12″-diameter piping and three-phase power, which extend a quarter-mile from field edge to central hub, add to the cost. One fully functioning pivot is $300,000. And that’s assuming the field has all necessary water and power available at the field edge.

As part of their 2022 project, the Nelsons had to lay three miles of 18″ and 16″ pipe and the corresponding three-phase power to reach five of their 12 target fields. That was another $1 million.

Then there are the ongoing costs. The Luck Lake Irrigation District pays up to $200,000 per month in peak season to run the pumping station, perched on the shore of Lake Diefenbaker, that keeps the whole network pressurized. The district passes that along to its farmer members through connection fees and water rates. The Nelsons paid a one-time connection fee of $20,000 to $25,000 per quarter and pay an annual bill based on each acre-foot of water applied. Steve Nelson estimates their total water invoice for 2022 at $70 to $80 per acre.

But it boosts yields

Higher yields provide the return on investment.

The Nelsons produce hybrid seed canola, yellow peas, marrowfat peas, edible beans, flax, wheat, oats, barley and corn on irrigated land. Barley and corn are ensiled for cattle feed. Nelson says barley yields up to 15 tonnes per acre, chopped, and corn up to 25 tonnes.

In the neighbourhood, wheat without irrigation in 2022 yielded 20-25 bu./ac., while wheat with irrigation yielded over 100 — which is typical, Nelson says. Irrigated canola yields in 2022 were down “because the summer was so hot for so long,” he says. Irrigated canola yielded 50-60 bu./ac., while some neighbours without irrigation had canola yields as low as five, he says. For the increase in wheat and canola yield, irrigated fields usually get double the fertilizer rates, a higher seeding rate, and at least one application of fungicide.

Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation has yield data for all risk zones. Risk zone 12, which encompasses 12 municipalities east of Outlook, and risk zone 13, which includes the Nelson farm at Birsay, have the most irrigated land. SCIC’s canola yield data for zones 12 and 13 averaged 39 bu./ac. for irrigated land and 18 bu./ac. for non-irrigated dryland in 2021 and 2022. Yields in 2020 were better, with an average of close to 60 bu./ac. for irrigated canola and around 35 bu./ac. for dryland.

With these yields, “banks can’t give out the money fast enough” for irrigation projects, Nelson says. Yet, growth in irrigation is slow.

“We have been irrigating in Saskatchewan for 100 years, but we’re still underutilizing our water resource,” says Laurie Tollefson, an irrigation scientist who worked at Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre at the town of Outlook.

Saskatchewan and Canada have a $4 billion plan to increase utilization. The 10-year plan, announced in 2020, will upgrade and build water delivery canals west, north and southeast of Lake Diefenbaker. The target is to supply water to irrigate another 500,000 acres.

Saskatchewan and the federal government also had an irrigation infrastructure-funding program through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP). Applicants such as irrigation districts, could get funding for infrastructure to pipe water to the edge of fields. (Money was not available for in-field infrastructure, including the pivots). This first round of funding closed and there is no word yet of a renewal.

The province has its own goal to see pivots on 85,000 new acres by 2030. Patrick Boyle is the spokesperson for Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency, which oversees the provincial government’s water-management responsibilities. Boyle says over 34,000 acres of irrigation have been developed since 2020, “the largest growth since the early 1980s.”

Challenges

Irrigation projects can get sunk so easily. The first challenge is water supply. Regulations require a minimum outflow from Lake Diefenbaker to keep the South Saskatchewan River servicing all of its downstream cities, towns and natural habitats.

Boyle says the Water Security Agency reviewed 88 years of flow data and found that with no change in operating, nearly 900,000 acre-feet of water per year is available for irrigation. Lake Diefenbaker has a total volume of 7.4 million acre-feet. If the 500,000-acre plan is fully realized, irrigators will use less than the 900,000 acre-feet, he says, adding, “more analysis and study will be done as the project progresses.”

Second is suitability of the land. “An ideal parcel of land is well drained, has medium soil textures, and has no underlying salinity concerns,” Boyle says. For land deemed suitable, the province issues a certificate that allows the landowner to apply for water rights from an irrigation district or from the Water Security Agency.

Nelson, who had land assessed and approved before their 2022 project could proceed, says “the province wants to make sure the land is worth irrigating.”

Third is environmental and social risk assessment. In February 2021, Saskatchewan’s Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, which represents 74 First Nations in the province, issued a news release calling for consultation on the Lake Diefenbaker project.

“Irrigation projects have the potential to have widespread and devastating impacts on soils, water availability and quality, ecosystem health and wildlife,” the release stated. It included a quote from Prince Albert Grand Council Chief Brian Hardlotte, making specific reference to the Saskatchewan River delta. “The delta supports important biodiversity and is a vital ecosystem for First Nations. Analysis of how the irrigation project may further impact this delta needs to be undertaken.”

Peter Leavitt says the Lake Diefenbaker project is political as well as agricultural. The professor and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change and Society at the University of Regina says the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada will review at least part, and perhaps all, of the $4 billion federal-provincial project.

Leavitt says Lake Diefenbaker has become part of the natural habitat. “The main thing is that more water on the landscape means more runoff, which means transport of nutrient and chemical off the land and into the water,” he says. “I’m not opposed to more irrigation as long as it’s done right.”

Finally, irrigation is expensive. As noted, it requires canals, pipelines, pumps and power to get water to field edges — costs funded through government programs and irrigation districts. Farmers then spend $300,000 or so per quarter section to set up their own infrastructure. “There is some perception that irrigation projects spend a lot of money to benefit only a few farmers,” Tollefson says, “but farmers supply the processing plants that provide a lot of jobs and opportunities in Saskatchewan.”

How much more canola?

Tollefson grew up near the town of Mossbank in the semi-arid soils of southern Saskatchewan. “In those days, no one dreamed of canola in the brown soil zone,” he says. Canola in that region was not seen as worthy of irrigation because it could not tolerate the heat of a southern Saskatchewan summer, he says.

“Now canola is an established crop in irrigation, with high-yielding hybrids proven to work well in irrigation in Saskatchewan,” Tollefson says, predicting “canola is going to be a big player under irrigation going forward.”

Research continues to look at ways to improve water-use efficiency for irrigation in general, and improve the environmental and economic sustainability of irrigated canola. SaskCanola funds a few irrigation projects, including one by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) research scientist Sally Vail to address yield stability drivers of canola in a changing climate, comparing dryland and irrigated sites. Erin Karppinen and Evan Derdall, research scientists with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre, have ongoing projects on management practices to increase yield and oil productivity for irrigated canola, and on the effect of seeding date on irrigation requirements and water use efficiency for canola.

Karppinen says research at Outlook has pushed irrigated canola yield to over 70 bu./ac. This is with more fertilizer, fungicide applications and about 15 inches of total in-season water. Whatever water isn’t supplied through rainfall is topped up through irrigation.

Derdall, an irrigation and drainage engineer, says irrigation technology has already come a long way to improve water use efficiency. Flood irrigation, no longer a common practice in Saskatchewan, has water use efficiency of only 30 to 40 per cent because most water runs off, evaporates or seeps through the root zone, unused.

Irrigation then went to pivots with “high-impact sprinklers,” but these required more pumping energy to maintain 35-40 psi of water pressure, Derdall says. These sprinklers also produced a fine mist prone to wind drift and evaporation. Now pivots have drop nozzles — nozzles at the end of dangling hoses — bringing water closer to the crop, reducing wind loss and evaporation. These drop nozzles require pressure of only 15-20 psi, which is a lot more energy efficient. With soil moisture sensors to manage irrigation scheduling and limit excess watering, water use efficiency is now 90 per cent, or more, Derdall says, and the risk of runoff and leaching, which carry fertilizer and pesticides back to rivers and lakes, is very low. “Irrigation has seen big improvement over the past 20 years,” he says.

But not the whole solution

That’s the good news. The downside, from a canola supply perspective, is scale. Half a million new acres of irrigation represent only one per cent of Saskatchewan’s cropland. Based on a one-in-four or one-in-three crop rotation, these new irrigated acres will include 125,000 to 167,000 acres of canola each year. That’s but a small fraction of the 12 million acres of canola the province averages in a given year. Even with an irrigation-powered one-tonne-per-acre increase in yield (which is quite a bit more than current Saskatchewan crop insurance data show), the increase in canola production would be 125,000 to 167,000 tonnes. The Regina processing plants, once built and running, will take up to 4.5 million tonnes per year. Clearly, this irrigation project is not the complete answer.

However, canola will not be the only crop to benefit. Farmers with irrigation in southern Alberta, Canada’s largest irrigation area, grow a diverse rotation of crops, including edible beans, potatoes, corn, sugar beets, hybrid seed canola and dozens of other oilseed, pulse, cereal, forage and specialty crops. Alberta towns of Taber and Bow Island, for example, have processing facilities and jobs sprouting from this diversity and productivity. Lake Diefenbaker could water such agricultural diversification in Saskatchewan.

Laurie Tollefson has advised on irrigation projects in Afghanistan, China, Egypt and Iran. “I’ve worked in places that were as dry as a bone,” he says. “We have a supply of water here and we’re not using it. More irrigation absolutely has to happen. It’s going to get drier and hotter, and we should be ready.”

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The Canola Council of Canada celebrated a return to normalcy at its annual meeting at the Canadian Crops Convention in Ottawa.

“Our theme this year is ‘from adversity to opportunity’ and I think that’s very fitting,” said Jim Everson, the group’s president.

Production has rebounded following the drought of 2021, meaning there’s opportunity to develop new markets again.

As the pandemic restrictions have eased, the industry has returned to being able to have important face-to-face meetings.

And exciting new developments like renewable diesel promise to supercharge demand in the future.

He spoke to Gord Gilmour of Glacier FarmMedia and Karen Briere of the Western Producer following the AGM on March 9.

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Such reductions of nitrous oxide from 2020 levels would fall well short of the Canadian government’s voluntary target of a 30 per cent cut, however.

Some farmers say using less fertilizer would jeopardize crop production in Canada, the world’s third-biggest wheat exporter. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government maintains that deep emission reductions are possible without mandatory fertilizer cuts.

A similar debate between farmers and government has led to large protests in the Netherlands, where that country is taking much stricter measures than Canada.

“We support the federal government’s strong push to reduce Canada’s emissions, but we cannot sacrifice food productivity,” said Karen Proud, CEO of Fertilizer Canada, whose members include manufacturers Nutrien and CF Industries.

The 14 per cent emissions cut would result from a “moderate” increase in nitrogen use and farmers’ adoption of better management practices, called 4R, which emphasize applying fertilizer of the right source, at the right rate and time and in the right place, the report from Fertilizer Canada and Canola Council of Canada said. Some farmers have already used the 4R approach for more than a decade.

Under that scenario, crop yields would increase even as emissions fall.

Farmers will adopt more sustainable practices if their costs are offset elsewhere, such as by higher crop revenue or government incentives, the report said.

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said she welcomed the finding that better nutrient management can cut emissions by nearly half of the government’s goal. Fertilizer companies should also keep developing new products that produce lower emissions, Bibeau said.

Agriculture emissions account for 10 per cent of Canada’s overall emissions, and Trudeau’s government is aiming to cut national emissions by 40-45 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.

— Rod Nickel is a Reuters correspondent in Winnipeg.

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Here’s a quick translation: With 43,560 square feet in an acre, Rath’s higher seeding rate is equal to six seeds per square foot and his late-May warm-soil seeding rate is 5.5 seeds per square foot. If seed weight is five grams per 1,000, for example, that would be three pounds per acre.

Rath speaks the language of planters, and a planter is precisely what the farmer from Rolla, B.C. uses to seed … precisely. 

Jason Casselman, the Canola Council of Canada agronomy specialist for the Peace region, also speaks planter. He worked in Ontario before moving out west in 2005, and he says it was an adjustment to hear farmers on the Prairies talk about seeding rates in pounds. “Planter users always talk about seeds per acre, like corn rates of 30,000 kernels and even winter wheat rates of 1.8 million seeds per acre,” Casselman says. “When the goal is a certain number of plants, it makes sense to set rates based on how many seeds you need to meet that goal.” 

Rath seeds canola with a Väderstad Tempo L 24 planter on 17.5-inch row spacing and seeds yellow peas, barley and hard red spring with his older Flexi-Coil 5000 air seeder. He bought the Väderstad four years ago and ran on-farm trials the first two years to settle on an appropriate seeding rate. He compared six rates, ranging from 180,000 to 260,000 seeds per acre, in 20-acre plots. “At harvest, moisture content and yield for all six were basically the same,” he says, “but 200,000 looks pretty thin.”

So he stuck with the higher rates. “We’re not the gambling types,” he says. “I don’t want to go too low in case we lose plants to frost or flea beetles.”

Studies show that canola stands with fewer than four plants per square foot will almost always have yield loss compared to crops with populations of four plants or more. The Canola Council of Canada recommended target of five to eight plants per square foot provides a little insurance in case of frost, flea beetles or other factors that remove a few plants. In order to hit the five-to-eight-plant target, Rath needs almost all of his 5.5 to 6 seeds per square foot to survive and form plants. And they do. “Our emergence rate is 88 to 93 per cent,” he says.

How planters can increase crop emergence

Rath bought the planter because he wasn’t happy with canola emergence rates using his air seeder. “Even at 4.5 to 4.8 miles per hour, we would have clumps of seed then skips of five, six, seven inches with nothing,” he says. Emergence rates, he says, were 50 to 60 per cent, which are actually in line with the Canadian average. But that’s not good enough for him.

Casselman says uniform depth and seed spacing from a planter can do a lot to boost emergence rates. 

“Seeds that go too deep can see increased mortality due to reduced seedling vigour and extended exposure to seeding diseases, and seeds that are crowded in the row will not all survive to form viable plants.”

The Tempo uses a pressurized hopper to push seeds into the metering disc and down the seed tube. A “stopping wheel” at the end of the tube releases each seed into the soil at precise intervals. Rath gets good results at an operating speed of 6.8 m.p.h. “Once you find the first seed, every 1.5 inches you’ll find the next one,” Rath says.

The monitor also counts every seed that drops, so if Rath sets a target of 260,000 seeds per acre, that’s how many the planter will put in the ground. The monitor includes skips and doubles in its counts.

One warning from Rath: The Tempo needs really clean seed. “Seed treatment fines will plug the holes,” he says. Rath works closely with the seed company Canterra to source seed cleaned to his specifications.

Candace Reinbold is Canterra’s territory manager for the Peace region of northern B.C. and Alberta. Canterra works with a few planter users like Rath to make sure its seed product will be a suitable match for the technology. “As a smaller seed company, we have had the ability in the past to tailor orders for growers like the Raths,” Reinbold says. “Feedback from these growers help us, as an industry, to improve our technology and bagging operations to bring more uniform size and weight seed to our growers.”

The Tempo has an on-board bulk fertilizer tank that holds six tonnes of product. Rath uses it to apply phosphate in the spring at the time of seeding. Fertilizer goes down through a separate disc opener two inches to the side of the seed disc. For the rest of his fertilizer, Rath deep-bands (to a four-inch depth) nitrogen, potassium and sulphur in the fall. In the spring, he goes over the fields with a heavy harrow to level the field for the planter. These steps to manage residue and keep fertilizer away from the seed can also improve emergence percentages.

Rath starts seeding canola around May 8, so not too early. His soil is grey-wooded clay with a range of 3.5 to six per cent organic matter. It has “hardly any rocks,” he says, which is important for a planter. “I’m not sure about planters in areas with a lot of rocks.” 

The planter has lots of adjustments, he says, so he can set seeding depth to reach moisture and packing pressure to keep that moisture sealed in.

And finally, while the planter is only 32 feet wide, the possibility to achieve precise seed placement at higher speeds means he can still seed about 250 acres of canola a day.

“There is more and more talk about using a planter for canola,” Rath says, adding that higher emergence percentage and saving on seed are major benefits. “A farmer should at least look at it.”

Calculate the right seeding rate

Using the 1,000-seed weight (TSW) on the seed bag, along with the farmer’s target plant density and estimated emergence, the Canola Council of Canada’s Seeding Rate and Seed Cost Calculator will determine the appropriate seeding rate (in the familiar pounds per acre) as well as cost per acre of the canola seed. Find the tool at canolacalculator.ca. Farmers can adjust the estimated emergence percentage to see the potential seed cost savings when they take steps to improve emergence rates.

How to increase canola seed survival rates

Try these tips to improve emergence percentage so more canola seeds contribute to yield and profitability.

• Seed shallow. Half an inch to one inch below the packer furrow is the recommended seed depth for canola. 
• Seed at a consistent depth. Maintain the drill to ensure all openers work at the same depth.
• Seed slower. At higher speeds, rear openers tend to throw more soil over the front rows, making these seeds slower to emerge. 
• Limit seed-placed fertilizer. The safest practice is to place only phosphate fertilizer with the seed at rates up to 20 pounds per acre. 
• Penetrate residue. Use openers and drill settings to penetrate residue so all seeds go into the soil.
• Pack appropriately. In wet conditions, reduce packing pressure to limit hard crusting. In dry conditions, pack more to seal moisture in the seed row.
• Seed into warmer soils. Soil temperatures of 5 C or higher with warmer weather in the forecast should facilitate reasonably good rates of emergence.
• Rotate crops. A tight canola rotation could increase the risk from seed and seedling diseases that can prevent emergence or weaken the young plants.

For more details, including useful links, please read the article “How to increase canola seed survival rates” in the Fundamentals section at canolawatch.org.

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