Source: Canola Ink
a service of Canola Digest, the official publication of Canada’s Canola Growers

One of the more complicated management aspects of canola is determining exactly why canola seed didn't germinate or why it germinated and died, says JoAnne Buth, Vice President of Crop Production for the Canola Council.

The information is out there in various forms, including the Council's new Canola Growers Manual. However, a more condensed tool was needed, she says. This led Murray Hartman, Oilseed Specialist with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, to develop a "decision tree" that walks agronomists and growers through the decisions based on observations made in the field. It then gives the possible actions to take based on the decisions.

For example, the tool can help growers determine if canola seedlings died due to flea beetles or soil herbicide residues.

The tool will be supplemented with images to make the diagnoses more accurate. Once the cause is determined, the grower can look at whether or not remedial action is possible or if management practises must be changed.

The tool is currently being field tested by industry and Council agronomists and should be available next spring as a chart that can be carried to the field and/or mounted in the farm office, says Buth.

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