By Madelyn Celovsky and Christine Charles
Though canola acres in Michigan are limited, this time of year they attract quite a bit of attention because of the flashy yellow flowers. Crop scouts from across Michigan’s winter canola growing region reported how the canola crop is progressing.
Crop progress
Moving through flowering, the canola is now in seed development stage as pods reach their final size. At this point, plants are using energy reserves stored in the stem. Canola tends to be quite resilient through flowering stages. Though canola growing areas experienced one instance of light frost conditions earlier this month, scouts in Michigan did not report frost damage. Agriculture and Agrifood Canada reports at flowering, temperatures need to be above 85 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce yield.
Once the crop gets to seed development, canola becomes more sensitive to stressful conditions. Environmental or biotic stressors like extreme heat or extensive pest feeding can cause the crop to abort pods. Canola water use reaches its peak at seed development.
Source : msu.edu