Sulphur and nitrogen deficiencies are showing up in some canola crops. The crop may not have received enough fertilizer to begin with, especially if this year’s rates did not compensate for high yields and high removal last year. Excess moisture may have added to nutrient losses. Flowering is not an ideal time to top dress, and applications any time after…
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Canola in fields with excess moisture will often show various signs of stress, including yellowing, purpling, stunted growth — or all of three. Excess moisture creates two problems for crop nutrition: (1) It can remove nutrient from the soil. And (2) it can “drown” roots and make it impossible for them to take up nutrients — even if nutrients are…
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We had a “follow up question” to last week's article "Hail damage: Economic loss depends on cro stage." The grower was asking about foliar nutrition after a hail storm. He had 2” of rain a week after a hailstorm and he feels that a foliar application could be worthwhile. The hail hit canola at the 5-6 leaf stage with a…
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High yielding canola and cereal crops will have drained the soil of a lot of nutrients. Taking good soil samples will help determine how much is left, and how to adjust fertilizer rates for the 2014 crop. Avoid sampling areas that may exaggerate the soil test readings. These areas include low spots, sandy ridges, old yard sites, hilltops, saline areas…
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Growers can expect to see some nitrogen loss from extended heavy rains, probably in the range of 20-50%. Before top dressing, wait to see how the crop recovers from saturated soils before investing any more in fertilizer. Don’t do anything while soils are still wet — roots cannot take up nutrient when soils are saturated. Applying nutrient direct to leaves…
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Nutrient and fungicide top dress treatments have been promoted to help heal and restart canola after hail. We don’t have published studies on using these or any treatments for this purpose in Western Canada, so it’s buyer beware. Leave a check strip to see if they improved yield. For products that require foliar uptake to work properly, severe hail damage…
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Fertilizer dribble options for the sprayer: 1. Streambars or dribble bars are long bars — 12” to 15” or so each — with 4 holes along the length. They attach to each sprayer nozzle point, with the bar designed to reduce the distance between streams. Advantage: Streams drop straight down so spray patterns are unaffected by boom height. Disadvantages: They…
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If a grower decides to try something new, find a uniform field, try one product at a time and leave an untreated check, ensuring both treated and untreated areas are accurately measured for final yield and grade so a true economic comparison can be made. In reality, some products may provide a good payoff for the price, but that payoff…
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Give the brand new online Canola Diagnostic Tool a pre-season test drive at www.canoladiagnostictool.ca. Start with a problem scenario that you encountered in a canola field in 2012, and work through the tool to see what potential causes it provides. Read the cause descriptions and “ways to confirm” to determine which cause is most likely…