Keeping weeds, disease and insects under control is the trick to reaching the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
- Early weed control. A combination of pre-seed weed control and one in-crop application before the four-leaf stage of the crop is often enough. Canola that gets off to a good start with weed competition reduced early in the season rarely sees an economic benefit to a second in-crop application of herbicide.
- Canola health can have a huge impact on canola yield and longevity, so effective scouting strategies, proper identification and accurate assessment of diseases is crucial to successful canola crops.
- Canola diseases such as blackleg, clubroot, sclerotinia stem rot, alternaria, aster yellows, root rot, seedling disease complex and verticillium stripe (amongst others) should be understood in order to be properly managed for a healthy, productive canola crop.
- A variety of pests and insects can have a significant impact on canola production. Since this impact can vary between locations, conditions and years, effective scouting strategies at the correct time, proper damage assessments and accurate economic threshold utilization will help you manage insects throughout the growing season for a successful canola crop.
- Some of the main pests to scout for include flea beetles (shortly after emergence), cut worms (early growth stages) and worm species such as Bertha Armyworm and Diamondback Moth (flowering through podding). An economic threshold is the level of infestation (pest insect density) at which lost yield (ex. due to feeding/insect pest damage) exceeds the cost of the chemical and its application.