Mark your calendars for the remaining four webinars in the agronomy series. Dates are January 13, February 24, March 24 and April 13. CCAs can receive credits for attending. We share a few tips from the December 13 webinar on targeting seed traits to maximize hybrid potential.

Canola Watch Winter Webinar Series

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Canola Watch started a dozen years ago as a basic email update on agronomy issues through the growing season. The email continues to get better and the brand has expanded to include a website at canolawatch.org, video series, podcast, quizzes and exams, a Twitter handle and now, a webinar series.

The first ever Canola Watch winter webinar series started November 24, 2021 with a one-hour mid-day presentation on “Genetics, Environment and Management: Finding Room for Improvement”. Canola Council of Canada agronomy specialist Nate Ort was one of the presenters, a lot of his talk was based on his phenology article on page 34 of this Canola Digest. The second webinar, called “Maximizing Hybrid Potential: Targeting Traits to Improve
Yield and Consistency,” was December 13. Both of these are posted on the Canola Council of Canada YouTube channel at youtube.com/canolacouncil and as podcasts at canolawatch.org.

The next four webinars are monthly, starting January 13. Find details and registration information for all four at canolacouncil.org/events. Topics will be on fertilizer management, pest management and more.

Targeting traits

A key message in the December 13 webinar was about choosing canola cultivars that are well-matched to the challenges for each farm – and ideally for each field. Canola Watch has this topic covered in an article “Choose the right cultivar for each field.”

Here are a few strategies from the article:

Try clubroot-resistant genetics. This is a good strategy for most of the Prairies now that clubroot is fairly widespread. Fields that have used clubroot resistance at least twice may be good candidates for a new source of resistance.

Take some pressure off the sclerotinia spray decision. Hybrids with tolerance to sclerotinia stem rot will provide some peace of mind in those situations where the decision to spray is not so easy.

Address an increase in blackleg disease. A stubble test to identify the most common blackleg race in a field will allow rotation of major gene resistant germplasm using information available from many of the seed suppliers.

Provide some harvest choices. Cultivars with improved straight cut features (lodging resistance, for example) and pod-shatter tolerance are better suited to late swathing and straight combining, which could provide a little more flexibility on harvest timing and method.

Hedge bets on weather. Some hybrids may perform better or worse in certain environmental conditions. Because we can’t predict growing season weather, having a few different hybrids may hedge the bet somewhat.

Rotate weed management. Herbicide rotation is always good practice, but knowing your weeds can drive more specific strategies when it comes to canola hybrid choice. For example, the Roundup Ready™ system is better for Group-1-resistant wild oats, and the Liberty Link® system is the better choice if the field has known or suspected Group-9-resistant kochia.

Expand marketing opportunities. A few fields seeded to a specialty canola variety could cover off many of the points above while also providing a different marketing angle with premiums, specified delivery dates, on-farm pick up or whatever features the contract provides.

Bottom line: If a farm grows only one canola hybrid and has an issue with performance, they may not be able to determine whether a different set of genetics might have helped in their scenario. With two or more hybrids, performance can be compared and analyzed. Through this process, farms can start to do their own “phenotyping” – which, as Nate Ort described in webinar one, is to assess genetic performance based on local
growing conditions and management.

Sign up

Canola Watch, including the webinar series, is a service from the CCC along with Manitoba Canola Growers, SaskCanola and Alberta Canola. Please sign up for the email updates at canolawatch.org/signup and join us for the remaining four winter webinars.