Recent temperatures in the high 20s to low 30s, coupled with high humidity, has raised the concern of heat blasting in canola. And while she says there's nothing farmers can do to stop it, Manitoba Canola Growers agronomist, Angela Brackenreed, feels that crops are in okay shape.
"Most fields in Manitoba have very good sub-soil moisture and we had pretty good root development early in the season so that plant is still able to get moisture. Where we really see heat blasting exaggerated in hot weather like this is when it's also dry, so we have that on our side for sure but with that said, we're certainly going to see some happen."
She adds however, canola is really good at compensating and produces more flowers in any year than ever turn into pods. "So we will lose a little bit, no doubt about that, but it will compensate and shoot out more side branches and continue to try and flower."
Brackenreed admits it's tough to saw how heat blasting will affect yield, noting it will depend on the weather here-on-out. She also says it's difficult to determine the peak temperature that would push flowers over the edge, because humidity and nighttime temperatures also play a role.
"There's been a little bit of work done to show that if we're getting twenty-eight to thirty degree highs during the day, coupled with above sixteen degrees Celsius at night, (that) is when we really see that exaggerated heat blast. It does take multiple days of more normal temperatures after for that hormone balance to return and normal pod formation to happen after that."
She says ideal conditions moving forward would be temperatures below twenty-eight degrees Celsius, paired with cool evenings.
Meantime, Brackenreed says the recent warm temperatures are raising concerns regarding Sclerotinia fungicide applications that are currently underway.
Source : Portageonline