Growers pay for third-party variety comparisons

Canola Performance Trials compare leading canola varieties in small-plot and field-scale trials. What growers get from this is independent, third-party data on new and familiar canola varieties – essential information in making variety choices.

Alberta Canola, SaskCanola and the Manitoba Canola Growers Association fund the program, along with contributions from the British Columbia Grain Producers Association (BCGPA). The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) delivers the program on their behalf.

Online tool

Data from 2011 onward is loaded into the tool at canolaperformancetrials.ca. Use the filters to narrow the search by herbicide-tolerance (HT) system, season zone, days to maturity, yield and more. To compare clubroot-resistant (CR) varieties, choose ‘show me all the data’ and select the CR varieties. To compare two specific varieties, try the head-to-head comparison option. It only includes data from the two varieties that were grown at the same place and time (same site in the same year), so there are fewer data points but this provides a very high quality comparison. With each search, the program shows all the trial locations on the map. Click the flags to see results from a specific location.

New Canola Variety Selection Guide

The new ‘Canola Variety Selection Guide: Featuring CPT Summary Data’ is posted at canolaperformancetrials.ca. This booklet packages data from 2011 through 2016, laid out in a step-by-step format, providing useful information and data on different factors that could be considered when making seed decisions.

Average yield (% of check) of CR varieties* (and number of sites) in small plot trials