Crops can reflect the sun’s shortwave radiation back into space, helping to cool the Earth. With its yellow flowers, canola’s reflectance is more than most other crops, providing a cooling effect of about 0.5°C during the growing season as compared to a crop like wheat.

The Canola Council of Canada’s sustainability targets include a goal to have 90 per cent of canola production acres under 4R Nutrient Stewardship by 2025. [Editor’s note: This was originally set at 50 per cent, and the original print version of this article uses the 50 per cent number.]

Applying enough fertilizer to maximize profit potential and taking steps to reducing nutrient losses will improve canola yield per tonne of fertilizer applied. This will have a positive effect for both economic and environmental sustainability

Biodiversity of habitat across the farm can increase populations of bees and beneficials, which can increase yields and provide a natural check on insect populations. Biodiversity through crop rotations can reduce disease severity and expand management options for weeds.