Get The Most Out Of Your Herbicide Application

—Tips for windy conditions. Too windy, according to the Guide to Crop Protection, is wind above 15 km/h. A low drift nozzle to spray weeds in windier conditions is preferable to waiting longer for a relatively calm day suitable for a finer spray. 
 

—Spray within label crop stages. Crop stage window for glyphosate-tolerant canola: Seedling to 6-leaf. Liberty Link: cotyledon to early bolt. Clearfield: 2- to 7-leaf for Ares and 2- to 6-leaf stage for Odyssey Ultra and Tensile. 
 

—When to spray uneven crop. Patchy emergence due to a few weeks of dry and then a rain, or due to reseeded crop emerging among the few original plants, has created a wide range of stages in some crops. Make herbicide timing decisions based on the stage that represents the highest proportion of plants. And rather than planning on two applications, growers may be better off spraying once at the highest registered rate when weeds that are more advanced than the crop, and with rapidly growing canola plants.
 

—Clean out the whole sprayer, not just the tank. Herbicide residue can be in the booms, filters and herbicide filling pump, among other places. 
 

A Canola Digest article “Contamination station” describes how the glyphosate left in the sprayer pump was enough to damage a whole Liberty Link crop.
 

—New products/new registrations. Just because a product is registered in Canada for use on canola does not mean that it should be used. In some cases, key market countries may not have approved the same product or have not set maximum residue limits (MRLs) for that product. Before using a new product, check with the delivery point to make sure canola sprayed with this product will be accepted.

 

Video: Winter Canola Trial in Mississippi | Can It Work for Double Cropping? | Pioneer Agronomy

Can winter canola open new opportunities for growers in the Mid-South? In this agronomy update from Noxubee County, Mississippi, Pioneer agronomist Gus Eifling shares an early look at a first-year winter canola trial and what farmers are learning from the field.

Planted in late October on 30-inch rows, the crop is now entering the bloom stage and progressing quickly. In this video, we walk through current field conditions, fertility management, and how timing could make this crop a valuable option for double-cropping soybeans or cotton.

If harvest timing lines up with early May, growers may be able to transition directly into another crop during ideal planting windows. Ongoing field trials will help determine whether canola could become a viable rotational option for the region.

Watch for:

How winter canola is performing in its first season in this Mississippi field

Why growers chose 30-inch rows for this trial

What the crop looks like as it moves from bolting into bloom

Fertility strategy, including nitrogen and sulfur applications

How canola harvest timing could enable double-cropping with soybeans or cotton

Upcoming trials comparing soybeans after canola vs. traditional planting

As more growers look for ways to maximize acres and diversify rotations, experiments like this help determine what new crops might fit into existing systems.