Features Agronomy Canola
Strong spring canola season in Ontario

The OMAFRA Field Crop Team published their spring canola seasonal summary for 2018. Some highlights include:

• A cold and rainy April left fields wet through the ideal timing for planting canola. As a result, there were very few reports of canola being planted before May 5 in Ontario.
• Early planting is advised for canola to avoid swede midge damage and hot temperatures during flowering.
• Hot and dry conditions dominated the mid-summer months of June and July. The combination of high heat and moisture stress caused significant yield loss in some areas, particularly where fields were planted early on sandy soils.
• In terms of diseases and pests, flea beetle pressure was low throughout the season.
• Swede midge damage causing reduced branching was frequently observed in fields through eastern and northern Ontario. Yield loss as a result of swede midge was reported on a few fields in 2018, particularly in Temiskaming District.
• Much of the canola was harvested in August and September; however, a few fields in Temiskaming District were not yet harvested in early November.
• Where canola was under significant moisture stress during high temperatures, some fields were yielding as low as 500 lb/ac but overall many producers finished the canola season with strong yields.

Read the full OMAFRA canola seasonal summary here.