Reduced seeding rates can produce good results, according to recent research.
Small-field trials on Bourgault Industries’ 2,000 acre commercial farm in northern Saskatchewan focused on canola seeding rates, and nitrogen and phosphorus placement.
Agronomy manager Curtis deGooijer said five years of data shows that less can equal more when it comes to overall yield, emergence efficiency and plant architecture and maturity.
DeGooijer told a recent Farming Smarter conference and trade show in Lethbridge that for singulation, rates were 10 seeds per sq. foot and then subsequently halved to five seeds and 2.5, while volumetric started at five pounds per acre and was then halved to 2.15 and 1.25.
He said yields held up even at the lowest rates, especially when conditions and fertilizer placement were managed properly. They were 49.1 bushels per acre at the lowest seeding rate and 49 bu. per acre at the highest.
Better emergence and root depth
The real differences were seen with plant architecture and emergence efficiency.
“We do a lot of emergence, not just at two leaf, but then afterwards as well. Our actual emergence rates started to decline. So simply by reducing your seeding rate, you’re getting better emergence,” said deGooijer.
Emergence dropped from 72 per cent with the lowest seeding rate to 59 per cent with the highest.
He also said lower seeding rates produced much larger plants with strong branching than the highest seeding rate. As well, yields from the lowest seeding rate were two bu. per acre more in the dry year of 2021 than the highest seeding rate.
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