Digging into Research
Starter phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) fertilizer increased early-season growth, plant height, P concentration, and uptake of P and Zn in plant tissue, relative to the unfertilized control. In some cases, starter fertilizer reduced days to maturity and grain moisture content. The largest responses were...
Canola yield increased by up to 40% with increasing N rate up to 134 lbs/ac (150 kg/ha) pre-plant (i.e. close to seeding) application via broadcast or banding. There was no significant difference in yield between pre-plant only N application and a split pre-plant plus top-dress...
In western Canada, no-till improved wheat yield by 7%, canola by 10%, and legumes like beans, peas and lentils by 9% compared to conventional tillage. These higher yields provide higher carbon inputs into the soil to help increase soil organic carbon and reduce greenhouse gas...
Wheat, pea and canola uptake of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and boron (B) was greater with optimum soil moisture and warm temperatures compared to drought and saturated soil moisture conditions or cold temperatures. Micronutrient deficiencies can occasionally occur on Prairie soils, but crop response to fertilization...
At 4 of 6 site-years, SuperU reduced N2O emissions by 30% to 57% compared to conventional urea, for all placement methods. However, there was no yield or economic benefit derived from the use of the enhanced efficiency fertilizer (EEF). Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a major greenhouse...
Wheat, canola and chickpea yield and the overall average water use efficiency increased linearly as stubble height increased to 18 inches (45 cm) compared to cultivated stubble. Water use was independent of stubble height. Previous research on the semiarid Prairies found that seeding into 12 inch...
Fifty combines were tested for harvest loss, with average losses of 1.3 bu/ac (72.9 kg/ha) or 2.8% of total yield. The maximum combine loss measured was 10.7 per cent of the producer’s yield at 4.1 bu/ac. Minimizing combine grain loss is usually a balance between weather...
Canola yielded 24% higher when seeded into tall stubble, compared to stubble that had been cultivated in the fall. Additionally, canola seeded into tall stubble yielded 16% higher than if seeded into stubble that was left standing until spring, and then cultivated. On the semi-arid Prairies,...
Swathed and direct-harvested canola suffered the same harvest seed losses, at 10.2% of total seed yield, and canola losses added to the seedbank averaged 830 viable seeds/ft2 (8300 viable seeds/m2). Before the development of shatter-resistant Brassica napus canola, seed shatter was a concern for canola growers...
Over the period 1996 to 2020, the farm level economic benefits from genetically modified crops increased global farm income by $261.3 billion US dollars. In Canada, the average farm income increase from growing herbicide tolerant canola was $23.49/ac ($58.01/ha). Genetically modified (GM) soybean, corn, cotton and...
