News
Canola Colleges -Growing in 2009
The Canola Council of Canada has announced it will be holding its series of popular agronomic workshops during late February through to mid-March. Dubbed 'Canola Colleges', they are being held in six different locations in the next five weeks.
January 16, 2009 By Canola Council of Canada
January 16, 2009
In 2009 the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) is making an effort to reach more agronomists with the always-popular Canola Colleges.
"We are responding to the comments from potential participants in past years that indicated travel to one of the three main locations was a barrier to their attendance," says Chris Anderson, CCC vice-president of crop production.
The colleges are one-day symposiums primarily targeted at helping agronomists provide their grower clients with the tools and information to grow their canola net returns.
For 2009, guest speakers as well as CCC agronomy specialists will bring their presentations and demonstrations to a central location in each of the three Prairie Provinces, including Nisku, Alberta on February 26th, Warman, Saskatchewan on March 3rd and Brandon, Manitoba on March 5th, as they have since the colleges’ inception in 2004. In addition, the CCC agronomy specialists will provide a similar agenda at three additional satellite canola colleges including Yorkton, Saskatcewan on March 10th, Grande Prairie, Alberta on March 11th and Medicine Hat, Alberta on March 19th. Attendees of any of these events are eligible to receive Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) credits.
Main themes this year will be "Stand Establishment" and "Fertility Management".
"Stand establishment was the theme of our first college and it is time to revisit," says Derwyn Hammond, CCC agronomy specialist in Manitoba. "This is particularly important in light of the challenges many growers faced last spring."
Areas covered under this theme will include yield response to plant population, management factors that impact successful stand establishment (including crop sequence and equipment considerations) and diagnostic tips for dealing with stand establishment problems.
The fertilizer theme will examine factors that affect the nutrient supplying power of the soil and the current economics of nutrient applications, including some novel crop nutrient sources.
"Fertilizer is the most expensive input that farmers are using on canola," says John Mayko, CCC senior agronomy specialist in Alberta. "We want to show the relationship between application rates and net returns under various scenarios."
The course fee is $100 + GST and includes the day’s presentations, a light breakfast, lunch, a copy of the proceedings and an updated canola information package.
Space at each event is limited. Register on-line by visiting www.canolacouncil.org and click on "Register! Canola College 2009". If you have registration questions, contact Gail Hoskins at 1-204-982-2102 or 1-866-479-0853.
For more information in your area, contact:
For more information in your area, contact:
Derwyn Hammond, Manitoba Region, 204-729-9011
Jim Bessel, North Central and North Eastern Saskatchewan, 306-373-6771
Tiffany Gutzke, Eastern Saskatchewan, 306-231-3663
Doug Moisey, East Central Alberta and Northwestern Saskatchewan, 780-645-9205
Matthew Stanford, Southern Alberta and Southwestern Saskatchewan, 403-327-4832
John Mayko, West Central Alberta, 780-764-2593
Erin Brock, Peace Region, 780-568-3326
