Harvest management steps, including cutting later to realize a canola crop’s full yield potential and taking steps to reduce in-field and storage losses, mean more canola per acre goes to market. It has a big impact on real production per acre.

Customers are asking for sustainably-produced food, so some food companies are sourcing some ingredients from producers who follow sustainable production practices.

Genetics will drive a large share of the yield gains needed to get to 52 bu./ac. Genetic traits also reduce pesticide use, increase crop tolerance to disease and improve harvest management – all enhancing the sustainability of canola.

One of the greatest challenges in growing canola is competition from weeds. As Brookes and Barfoot reported in 2017, herbicide-tolerant canola varieties have allowed farmers in Canada to reduce the amount of herbicide they use by 20 per cent since 1996.