Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
GarrettGreninger
WSUID:11173505
April9th,2014
Production
TheproductionofcanolawillbeanewaspectintheBealefarm.Theorderof
operationsforthewinterwheatpriortoseedingofcanolawillcontinueastheyhave
alwaysbeenbefore.Thefirststepwillbetosprayroundtoeliminateanyvolunteerwheat
andotherweeds.Aftersprayingseedingcanolawithanotilldrillseeder.Abenefitof
notillfarmingisthatthenotilldrillallowsustofertilizeatthesametimeasseeding.A
commonstrugglefarmershavewhenseedingcanolaisthatcanolaseedisverysmalland
theyareconstantlyoverapplyingseedtothesoil.AfterconsultingwithDouglasPoolea
notillcanolafarmerinDouglasCounty,headvisedthattheseedshouldbemixedwith
cornstalkstoreducetheamountofseedapplied(Poole,2014).Asfarastherateofseed
appliedacommonrateof5lbsofseedperacreisthestandard.Seeddepthisessential
whenseedingcanola.Thecanolashouldbeseededveryshallowintothesoilbecause
whencanolaisseededtoodeepthatyieldsaresignificantlyreduced.Thetargetdatefor
seedingthecanolawillbetheApril10thtothelatestbeingMay1st.Thiswillprovidea
harvestdatepriortothatoftheotherfieldsindifferentrotationssothatthereisnt
conflictingharvestingschedules.Aftertheplanthasemergedthenextstepistospray
roundupthroughoutthesummerwhennecessarytocontroltheamountofweeds.The
amountoftimesthatroundupisappliedmayvarydependingontheamountofweedsand
theeffectivenesspriorapplications.Applyingatopdressingisalsoadvisedtothecanola
aroundthemiddleofJunewithafertilizerintendedtoincreasetheyieldsandgivethe
croptheextraboostneededtofinishoffeffectively.Windshattercanbeaproblemwhen
thecanolaisripebecausethepodsaresofragileandwindcausesthepodstobreakand
theseedstofallontheground.Somefarmerswillapplyachemicalwithaplanepriorto
harvestthatwillreducetheamountofwindshatter.Therearetworeasonsastowhy
usingthatchemicalisntapplicabletospringcanola.Thefirstreasonwhythechemical
isntapplicableisthattheoveralleffectivenessoftheproductissuspect.Mr.Poolehas
appliedtheproductandnotappliedtocomparethedifferenceinyields.Hiscropshadno
significantdifferenceinyieldsthatshatter(Poole,2014).Theotherreasonwhyapplying
thechemicalthatpreventswindshatterisineffectiveisbecauseofthewaythecanolabe
harvested.Theadvisedharvestingtechniquewouldbetoswaththecanola,whichwill
leavewindrowsontheground.Thenadraperheaderwillpickupthewindrowsandfinish
theharvest.Swathingisdonepriortothecropbeingcompletelyripe.Thecropwillripen
onthegroundwherethewindwillbeanonfactorsothereisnoneedtosprayforwind
shatter.Theotherwaytoharvestcanolaistofeeditdirectlyintothecombine.Thisis
knownasDirectCombiningandismorecommonlyseeninloweryieldingareas.The
Bealefarmownsaswatherandatypeofheaderthatcanpickupthecanolawindrows
thatareleftbehindtheswather.Therehasbeenmuchdebateastowhetherswathingor
directcombiningismoreeffective.Asfarasspringcanolaisconcerned,swathingwill
maketheharvestmoreefficientbecausetheharvestisearlier,thereforenotoverlapping
withthewheatharvest.Alsotheamountofweedsarereducedpriortoharvestproducing
acleaneroverallcrop(Boyles,2004).Afterharvestisconductedthesecondstepinthe
rotationiscomplete.Thefinalstepistochemfallowthecanolastubbleandpreparethe
fieldtobeseededwithwinterwheat.
NonEconomicalBenefits
Theeconomicbenefitsofgrowingspringcanolahavebeendiscussedbutthat
wouldntbetheonlyreasonwhyimplementingcanolaintoourcroprotationwouldbe
beneficial.Therearebiologicalaspectsthatspringcanolacanprovidethatother
rotationalcropscannot.Thefirstbenefitistheaforementionedroundupreadyspring
canola,whichimprovesweedmanagement.Anotherbenefitthatisthereisamajor
problemwithcompactioninthepacificnorthwestandspecificallythePalouseregion.
Theintroductionofspringcanolaforspringwheatwillhelpbreakwhatsoilscientistscall
ahardpan.Thehardpaniscausedwhenthesoiliscompactedduetoheavyamountsof
rainfallsandtheuseoffarmequipment(Saskatchewan,2005).St.Johnreceivesenough
rainfallannuallyandwhencombinedwithuseofheavyharrowsinpreviousyearsthe
hardpanhasbecomeanissue.Thisiswherecanoladiffersthanspringwheat.Canola
possessesadeepfibroustaprootthatwillgodowndeeperintothesoilandbreakupthat
hardpanbecausethetaprootisstrongerthantherootsofspringwheat.Thiswillbecomea
longtermbenefitbecausewhenwinterwheatisplantedtherootswillbeablegodeeper
intothesoil.Sincetherootswillgodeeperintothesoilthewinterwheatyieldswillbe
increasedbecauseoftheabilityoftherootstotakeupmorewater.Anotherbenefitof
canolaistheideaofbiofumigation.Scientistsclaimthataftertheharvestofthecanola,
thestubblereleasesabiologicalcompoundthatseemstolimittheamountoffungal
growthonthecropthatfollowsthecanola.Thiswouldalsoincreaseyieldsandreduce
ourinputcostswhilealsogrowinghealthiercrops(Norton,1999).Thebiologicalbenefits
aresignificantandwillprovidecropbenefitsandsoilbenefitsinthefuture.Canolaisnt
justafinancialdecisiontoday;itisabiologicaldecisionthatimprovestomorrow.
AlternativeCropstoCanola
ThereareothercropsthatcanbegrownintheSt.Johnarea.Croprotationisessentialand
hasmanybenefitswiththemainbenefitbeingincreasedyieldsovertime.Croprotation
alsoisamajorfactorinreducingweedsandreducinginputsbyprovidingthesoilwitha
nutrientcyclethatismorenatural(Christenson,2012).Thereisonerotationalcropthatis
grownmoreprevalentlythananyotherrotationalcropandthatisspringwheat.Spring
wheathaslongbeenthesecondrotationalcropinthreeyearrotations.Springwheat
whilealwaysprofitabledoesntprovidethebiologicalbenefitsthatcanolaprovides.
Springwheatalsohasashownasmallerprofitthanspringcanola.Manyfarmerswillnot
strayfromspringwheatbecausetheyhavegrownspringwheatfordecadesandknow
exactlyhowtoprofitfromgrowingspringwheat.Anotherrotationalcropthatcouldbe
producedisspringbarleybecausespringbarleyhasproventobeprofitable.Barley
thoughhasbeensignificantlylessprofitablethanspringbarley.Theincomeonspring
barleyis$55.00lesswhencomparedtospringwheat(Robertson,2006).Consideringthe
factthatbothspringwheatandspringbarleyarecerealgrains,theirrootsystemissimilar
towinterwheat.Thisdoesntprovidethebiologicalbenefitsofcanolabecausetheroots
donotbreakupthehardpanwhereasthetaprootofacanoladoes.Thisfactisthatspring
canolawouldbethemosteffectiveandprofitablerotationalcrop.
Sources
McNabb,Julie.CanolaBeforeWinterWheat:APerfectFit.CanolaDigest.2009:
pages1415
GovernmentofSaskatchewan.DeepTillage:DistributionofSoloneticSoilsin
Saskatchewan.2005
Norton,R.Kierkegaard,T.Angus,T.Potter,T.CanolainRotations.1999:pages17
Boyles,M.Peeper,T.Medlin,C.HarvestingOklahomaWinterCanolaSwathingvs.
DirectCombiningPlantandSoilsDepartment2004:pages17
Christensen,H.Behave,S.Meredith,S.Ulmer,K.CropRotationEuropean
Community.2012:pages19