Dry conditions at seeding followed by plenty of rain left some canola growers in Western Canada wondering if their canola had enough nitrogen to reach its yield potential.
As a result, there was increased interest in top-dressing N on canola this growing season.
As Jack Payne, regional agronomist with Farmers Edge, explains from CanolaPalooza in Lacombe, the decision to apply a rescue treatment of N must be made early — it should be done before the crop starts bolting.
“When you’re looking at top-dressing, you have to make that decision fairly soon,” he says, noting canola’s largest uptake of N is in the first six to eight weeks of development.
You also have to keep in mind it’s not immediately available to the crop and could take 10-14 days to be taken up by the plant, he notes.
Ultimately, as canola yield targets have climbed from 40 to 70-plus bushels/acre, so have the nitrogen requirements for the crop, forcing growers to look at alternatives for applying N. As Payne explains, each bushel requires 2.8 to 3-plus pounds of N.
Source : Albertacanola