With companies starting to roll out their early booking
canola information, I figured I’d put together a quick checklist for
determining what variety will be best for your farm. The top varieties are also
the first to sell out, so if you know what you want it is best to book them
right away.
The first thing most guys look at is yield. Ultimately this
is the deciding factor for a lot of growers. Don’t always listen to the seed companies
themselves as sometimes I find their yield numbers to be a bit higher than you
might see on your farm. Take a look at the third party canola council data, check
with local retails and research programs and you should get some good answers.
Lastly, talk to your neighbour, knowing what variety grows well in your area is
key. Just because a variety yields like crazy in Manitoba, doesn’t mean it will
yield the same in southern Saskatchewan.
Standability is something that has come to be noticed a lot this
year. A variety that stands better is a lot easier to swath or straight cut and
also is less prone to main stem sclerotinia infections than a variety that is
laying over. I have always noticed Bayer’s Invigor 5440 to stand up well, even under
high inputs (eg: fertilizer). Talk to some neighbours and see what they have
noticed with varieties. Some other varieties I have noticed that consistently
had good standability are VT 500, Canterra 1900 series, Brett Young 6060 and
Invigor L130 and L120.
Shatter resistance is another thing to watch for when
choosing a variety. This is especially true for those that want to try some
straight cutting. This trait is one that a lot of breeders are building up in
their lines as losses due to shattering show up not just in loss bushels, but
weed control in the years to come.
Disease resistant is becoming talked about more and more
every year. Almost all varieties these days come resistant to Fusarium Wilt and
Blackleg. With that said, when it comes to blackleg ratings there is something
to note. The first off is that even an ‘R’ rating can still have up to 30%
infection of blackleg (this is why you will hear company reps saying it is a “strong
R rating”, meaning their variety will only have up to 10% infection vs a weaker
R rating having 27% infection). Moderately resistant or ‘MR’ can have anywehere
from 30 to 49% infection. On top of this blackleg strains continue to develop
and evolve in western Canada and can overcome some of the resistance genes that
are put into our canola. These different strains belong to different
pathogenicity groups or PG’s, this is important because you may have a variety
that is resistant to a couple PG’s, but not another one which is potentially
the strain of blackleg you will see develop in your canola. On a side note, Dekalb
is coming out with an exciting variety called BL 74-44 which has multi group
black leg resistance. Sclerotinia resistance is becoming talked about as well
in a number of varieties, I have minimal experience with them, but be aware
they come at a premium cost and are only resistant up to about 65% (meaning
under a high risk year you can still have up to 35% infection). This means you
may still have to spray a fungicide. The other concern I have been hearing is a
yield drag, meaning to get the Sclerotinia tolerant gene into the variety they
may be giving up some of the superior yield genetics you would find in a non
resistant crop. With that said, I have read plenty of research without any
indication of yield drag, so something to look into more. Club root resistance
has been developed into varieties for a couple years now with the Peace River
region being the main target. If you are concerned with clubroot at all, these
varieties may be good candidates to look into. Remember, disease resistance
genes are not a substitute for a good rotation.
Herbicide tolerance is something else to consider, you may
want to mix up the herbicide groups on your farm so an Invigor variety that is
tolerant to Liberty (glufosinate ammonium group 10) might be a good route for
you. Some growers may have had a group 2 residual issue from having lentils or
peas on the land the year before, but want to put canola on that piece. A
Clearfield (group 2 tolerant) variety will grow through the group 2 residual
with no issues. Then there are the group 9 glyphosate tolerant varieties which
allow for a very effective herbicide product to be sprayed on a piece allowing
you to do a good job of cleaning up a dirtier field.
Last thing to note are premiums. Some specialty oil varieties
such as Nexera and the new Invigor 156H offer premiums based on a per bushel or
per tonne basis. This can be very lucrative, but remember try not to give up to
much yield potential if you do opt to go this route. An extra dollar a bushel
is always nice, but if you can grow a variety that may yield 10% more, you may
see a higher return from that variety on the yield vs. the variety with the
yield and the premium, so keep that in mind.
One quick thing to watch for, especially if seeding begins to drag out is days to maturity. A variety like Invigor L120 is going to save you a number of days vs an variety like L150.
One quick thing to watch for, especially if seeding begins to drag out is days to maturity. A variety like Invigor L120 is going to save you a number of days vs an variety like L150.
The amount of research going into canola these days is extremely
exciting. Yield potential is going up and variety traits such as drought tolerance
and increased herbicide tolerance are right around the corner meaning higher
yields, less susceptibility to yield threats and more money in your pocket.
Here is a list of 3rd party data from 2011 to
check out:
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