Canola Watch 2021 exam – Section 1 – 4R nutrient management

The Canola Watch 2021 annual exam for Certified Crop Advisors and Certified Crop Science Consultants (and anyone else who wants to enhance their agronomy skills) has five sections:

• 4R nutrient management (20 questions and 2 CEUs)
• Seed decisions: Choose the best cultivar for each field (10 questions and 1 CEU)
• Plant establishment: Achieve a uniform 5 to 8 plants per square foot (10 questions and 1 CEU)
• Pest management: Identify and manage the top yield robbers (20 questions and 2 CEUs)
• Harvest and storage: Deliver every seed at No.1 grade (10 questions and 1 CEU)

Find them all here.

Customize the exam based on credits you need. Credits will apply in either 2021 or 2022, depending on when you pass each section. For those who pass, Canola Watch will submit names and program ID numbers to the program to have the credits counted.

For questions or additional information on this exam, please contact Jay Whetter at 807-468-4006 or whetterj@canolacouncil.org.

Section 1: 4R nutrient management

All farms will benefit from applying the right fertilizer products at the right rate, right time and right place – the "4Rs". 4R nutrient management can improve the return on investment for fertilizer, improve overall farm sustainability, and reduce nutrient runoff into waterways and emissions into the air. 4R is an important Canola Council of Canada agronomy objective.

This section has 20 questions on 4R. Answers will be found in Canola Watch content from 2021 as well as supporting resources from Canola Encyclopedia, Canola Research Hub and more.

Achieve a minimum score of 70 per cent (14 out of 20) to receive 2 Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) or Certified Crop Science Consultant (CCSC) continuing education credits (CEUs). Specific credits for CCAs are: 1 CEU in nutrient management, 0.5 CEU in soil and water management and 0.5 CEU in sustainability. CCA tracking number SS 55303.

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About you

1. REQUIRED - Your full name:

2. Your CCA number: (Leave blank if not applicable)

3. Your CCSC number: (Leave blank if not applicable.)

4. REQUIRED - Email address:

5. Phone number:

6. REQUIRED - What region best describes your work territory?

Manitoba

Saskatchewan

Alberta

Other Canadian province

Outside Canada

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The exam

7. The article “How to get acres counted as 4R”, posted in the new Canola Watch Fundamentals section, describes the canola industry goal, which is: To utilize 4R nutrient stewardship practices on ___ per cent of canola acres by 2025. (Fill in the blank.)

30

50

70

90

8. The Canola Encyclopedia Nutrient Management section has a new chapter on 4R nutrient stewardship practices. For “Right rate”, the text acknowledges that using a specific blend for each field may not be feasible. A compromise would be to use one blend for all canola acres, and then do what with that blend?

Vary the application rate for each field, based on needs for that field

Apply it at the same rate for all canola acres

Turn off application on hill tops

Apply it at 125 per cent of recommended rates to get a boost in yield

9. In that same chapter, the first line under the “Right time” heading says the right time is generally ___________________. (Fill in the blank.)

In the spring at the time of seeding

As close to the time of crop uptake as possible

In the fall when fertilizer is often (but not always) cheaper

Given the importance of fertilizer, “right time” is whenever you can get it on

10. That same chapter says “we generally consider banded in the soil to be the Right place for fertilizer.” What is the one exception?

Broadcast dry urea because the speed of operation is too good to pass up

Elemental sulphur can be placed on the soil surface because it needs to oxidize

Winter soils are frozen, so banding in the winter is impossible

Liquid fertilizer is best applied on the surface because the liquid will move it into the soil

11. The Nitrogen chapter in the Nutrient Management section of Canola Encyclopedia has a new “Nitrogen cycle” graphic. The graphic shows pathways for nitrogen loss. What is it called when ammonia (NH3) escapes from the soil to the atmosphere?

Denitrification

Leaching

Mineralization

Volatilization

12. The Nitrogen chapter also includes information on enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs). Which EEF is particularly useful for reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions?

Controlled-release nitrogen

Nitrification inhbitors

Polymer-coated urea

Urease inhibitors

13. The April 7 Canola Watch quiz asked this question: With drier-then-normal soil moisture levels for many parts of the Prairies, what do dry soils do to the risk of plant damage from seed-placed nitrogen? 

Increase it

Decrease it

No change

14. Given the risk to seed and seedlings from seed-placed fertilizer, the general recommendation (mentioned in this article) is to place a starter rate of _________ in the seed row – and nothing else. All other fertilizer should be placed outside the seed row. (Fill in the blank.)

Nitrogen

Phosphorus

Potassium

Sulphur

15. The June 16 Canola Watch quiz noted that an in-season top-up of nitrogen fertilizer can make sense if growers cut back on rates with the dry start to the season then it rains and increases crop yield potential. The quiz asks: On the topic of Right Time, the Canola Encyclopedia says, "Ideally, a nitrogen top dress should occur _______________." (Fill in the blank.)

Before plants start to show deficiency symptoms

After herbicide spraying when the sprayer is available

Before the four- to six-leaf stage of the crop

Before the crop starts to flower

16. The same quiz also asks: For Right Rate, the Canola Encyclopedia says, "Growers may need to top dress up to ____ pounds per acre of actual nitrogen to visually notice an improvement, but yield differences for rates lower than that may show up at harvest." (Fill in the blank.)

10

20

30

40

17. The playlist of CCC canola production videos – the library of videos shared with each Canola Watch email – includes one on “fall soil sampling”. That short video says you might want to sample unproductive areas within fields. Why?

Unproductive areas are usually around field margins, so they’re the easiest to access.

Variable rate fertilizer is all about boosting yield in these areas.

Unproductive areas need the most help, so fertilizer rates should be based on these areas.

Comparing unproductive areas to productive areas can identify soil properties that cause yield variability.

18. Canola Digest magazine had a few 4R-themed articles in 2021. The January article, “Soil sampling as a step toward improved land use,” featured a farmer who planned to sample unproductive areas. He’s not set up for automated variable-rate application, but he will use the information to manually cut fertilizer applications to larger unproductive areas or target them for ________? (Fill in the blank.)

Elemental sulphur

Lime

Manure

Tile drainage

19. The article, “Your 4R fertilizer management plan for 2021,” in the March 2021 Canola Digest, featured a Saskatchewan farmer who does intensive soil sampling on any new quarter added to the farm. How many locations does the farmer sample per new quarter?

3

9

18

36

20. The agronomist interviewed in that same March 2021 Canola Digest article makes specific reference to one of the 4Rs that “can always be reexamined.” Which of the "Rs" was the agronomist talking about?

Right source

Right rate

Rate time

Right place

21. Variable-rate application is part of intermediate and advanced 4R. In a November 2021 Canola Digest article called “How to increase yield with fertilizer”, an agronomist describes one basic variable-rate practice as “low-hanging fruit”. What is it?

Increase sulphur rates on hill tops

Shut off potassium on hill tops

Shut off nitrogen in saline areas

Increase phosphorus rates in high-moisture areas

22. Well-managed crops – enhanced with 4R – can improve soil health. The Canola Digest Science Edition 2021 had a final report on a study into Saskatchewan’s Soil Health Score. According to results from this study, what two soil health indices primarily drive soil health differences?

Soil carbon and soil nitrogen

Soil protein and soil nitrogen

Soil nitrogen and soil phosphorus

Soil zinc and wet aggregate stability

23. Right rate can be influenced by crop choice. The Canola Digest Science Edition 2021 had a final report for a study on “Seven strategies to reduce fertilizer inputs”. The seven treatments included four cover crop cocktails (CCCs). Of the cover crop treatments, which one provided the greater improvement in grain yield?

CCC grazed as a standing crop

CCC for greenfeed

CCC rolled as a green manure

CCC swathed and grazed

24. On the topic of Right place, the Canola Research Hub has a report on Patrick Mooleki’s study ‘Reducing toxicity of seed-placed phosphorus fertilizer in canola’. Mooleki found that higher seed bed utilization (narrower rows, wider openers) ________ the seedling damage from seed-placed phosphorus fertilizer? (Fill in the blank.)

Has no effect on

Increases

Reduces

25. A Canola Research Hub blog post called ‘Research behind suitable fertilizer source choices’ shared results from a Cynthia Grant study comparing traditional and enhanced efficiency phosphorus fertilizers. Enhanced efficiency phosphorus fertilizers evaluated in Grant’s study provided _______ compared to traditional monoammonium phosphate (MAP).

A significant yield boost in wet soil conditions

A significant yield boost in cold soil conditions

Researchers with a positive sense of accomplishment

Little economic benefit

26. According to Table 1 in the ‘Choose the right placement for nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer applications’ Canola Research Hub blog, which 4R level(s) include all of following “Right place” practices for nitrogen?

—Apply nitrogen in subsurface bands/injection.
—Surface nitrogen application limited to in-season using surface banded urea with inhibitor, dribble banded urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN), or nitrate-based products.
—Eliminate fall broadcast of nitrogen.

Basic

Intermediate

Both basic and intermediate

Advanced

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