A uniform early-established canola stand of six to eight plants per square foot can reduce pest management costs, allow for earlier harvest and improve yield compared to thinner, later and uneven stands.

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.

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

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.]

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.