Manipulating Agronomic Factors for Optimum Canola Harvest Timing, Productivity, and Crop Sequencing

Priorities
Agronomic Practices 
Start Date
2018
End Date
2023
Principal Investigator
Brian L. Beres - AAFC (Lethbridge)
Co-Investigators
Charles Geddes - AAFC (Lethbridge), Breanne Tidemann - AAFC (Lacombe), William May - AAFC, Ramona M. Mohr - AAFC
MCGA Funding
$5,320
Total Project Funding
$391,094
External Funding Partners
Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Canola Council of Canada, SaskCanola, Alberta Canola
Report
Project Ongoing...

Research Objective

  • Understand how manipulations to sowing density, pod shatter tolerant hybrid maturity rating, and swath/straight-cut timing alter crop yield and quality
  • Refining best agronomic practices for optimal swath/straight-cut timing based on several factors
  • Determine how manipulating seed density, cultivar selection, and harvest management affect canolas growth of pods and branches
  • Provide an economic analysis for low vs. high sowing density systems and straight-cut vs. swathing scenarios

Project Description

The optimal stand threshold requires a lot of inputs and is expensive, but not necessarily most effective. There is a gap of knowledge with understanding how decreasing the optimal stand threshold will affect canola architecture (the canopy, branches, stems, etc.) and harvest method. Therefore, information about how lower threshold actually affect the crop will help farmers with their harvest timing and minimize seed losses. There is also a movement towards straight-cutting canola to decrease harvest time and completely leaving out the swathing step. This study will also look at standardizing which is optimal when the crop is in different stages, and in different ecozones across the Prairies. This project directly addresses priorities under the Canola Industry Research Priorities in relation to swath timing and straight-cutting practices listed under harvest management.

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