When it comes to seeding canola, it might be easy to fall into a trap of seeding more to harvest more. But with seed costs as they are, that may be more and more of a fast and loose strategy.
Bourgault Industries wanted to test a theory in the opposite direction on its 2,500-acre commercial farm: seed less to yield more.
The trials showed that while the plant stand obviously decreased, each individual canola plant grew larger, had better rooting systems and in drier years, actually yielded higher.
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Curtis de Gooijer, agronomy manager with Bourgault Industries, aimed to compare the results of singulation versus volumetric metering.
“We said, what happens if we decreased our seeding rate with an air drill?” said de Gooijer.
The trial started from the typical canola seeding rate of five pounds an acre, decreasing to 1.25 pounds an acre.
“It’s a balancing act between the plant stand that you actually want to achieve with what your mortality is,” said de Gooijer, “and then what your seeding rate is there to come into it as well.”
Watch the full video interview to learn more.
