AFS401FinalGroupProject:IntroducingCanolatoBealeFarms

GarrettGreninger

WSUID:11173505

April9th,2014

Production

TheproductionofcanolawillbeanewaspectintheBealefarm.Theorderof

operationsforthewinterwheatpriortoseedingofcanolawillcontinueastheyhave

alwaysbeenbefore.Thefirststepwillbetosprayroundtoeliminateanyvolunteerwheat

andotherweeds.Aftersprayingseedingcanolawithanotilldrillseeder.Abenefitof

notillfarmingisthatthenotilldrillallowsustofertilizeatthesametimeasseeding.A

commonstrugglefarmershavewhenseedingcanolaisthatcanolaseedisverysmalland

theyareconstantlyoverapplyingseedtothesoil.AfterconsultingwithDouglasPoolea

notillcanolafarmerinDouglasCounty,headvisedthattheseedshouldbemixedwith

cornstalkstoreducetheamountofseedapplied(Poole,2014).Asfarastherateofseed

appliedacommonrateof5lbsofseedperacreisthestandard.Seeddepthisessential

whenseedingcanola.Thecanolashouldbeseededveryshallowintothesoilbecause

whencanolaisseededtoodeepthatyieldsaresignificantlyreduced.Thetargetdatefor

seedingthecanolawillbetheApril10thtothelatestbeingMay1st.Thiswillprovidea

harvestdatepriortothatoftheotherfieldsindifferentrotationssothatthereisnt

conflictingharvestingschedules.Aftertheplanthasemergedthenextstepistospray

roundupthroughoutthesummerwhennecessarytocontroltheamountofweeds.The

amountoftimesthatroundupisappliedmayvarydependingontheamountofweedsand
theeffectivenesspriorapplications.Applyingatopdressingisalsoadvisedtothecanola

aroundthemiddleofJunewithafertilizerintendedtoincreasetheyieldsandgivethe

croptheextraboostneededtofinishoffeffectively.Windshattercanbeaproblemwhen

thecanolaisripebecausethepodsaresofragileandwindcausesthepodstobreakand

theseedstofallontheground.Somefarmerswillapplyachemicalwithaplanepriorto

harvestthatwillreducetheamountofwindshatter.Therearetworeasonsastowhy

usingthatchemicalisntapplicabletospringcanola.Thefirstreasonwhythechemical

isntapplicableisthattheoveralleffectivenessoftheproductissuspect.Mr.Poolehas

appliedtheproductandnotappliedtocomparethedifferenceinyields.Hiscropshadno

significantdifferenceinyieldsthatshatter(Poole,2014).Theotherreasonwhyapplying

thechemicalthatpreventswindshatterisineffectiveisbecauseofthewaythecanolabe

harvested.Theadvisedharvestingtechniquewouldbetoswaththecanola,whichwill

leavewindrowsontheground.Thenadraperheaderwillpickupthewindrowsandfinish

theharvest.Swathingisdonepriortothecropbeingcompletelyripe.Thecropwillripen

onthegroundwherethewindwillbeanonfactorsothereisnoneedtosprayforwind

shatter.Theotherwaytoharvestcanolaistofeeditdirectlyintothecombine.Thisis

knownasDirectCombiningandismorecommonlyseeninloweryieldingareas.The

Bealefarmownsaswatherandatypeofheaderthatcanpickupthecanolawindrows

thatareleftbehindtheswather.Therehasbeenmuchdebateastowhetherswathingor

directcombiningismoreeffective.Asfarasspringcanolaisconcerned,swathingwill

maketheharvestmoreefficientbecausetheharvestisearlier,thereforenotoverlapping

withthewheatharvest.Alsotheamountofweedsarereducedpriortoharvestproducing
acleaneroverallcrop(Boyles,2004).Afterharvestisconductedthesecondstepinthe

rotationiscomplete.Thefinalstepistochemfallowthecanolastubbleandpreparethe

fieldtobeseededwithwinterwheat.

NonEconomicalBenefits

Theeconomicbenefitsofgrowingspringcanolahavebeendiscussedbutthat

wouldntbetheonlyreasonwhyimplementingcanolaintoourcroprotationwouldbe

beneficial.Therearebiologicalaspectsthatspringcanolacanprovidethatother

rotationalcropscannot.Thefirstbenefitistheaforementionedroundupreadyspring

canola,whichimprovesweedmanagement.Anotherbenefitthatisthereisamajor

problemwithcompactioninthepacificnorthwestandspecificallythePalouseregion.

Theintroductionofspringcanolaforspringwheatwillhelpbreakwhatsoilscientistscall

ahardpan.Thehardpaniscausedwhenthesoiliscompactedduetoheavyamountsof

rainfallsandtheuseoffarmequipment(Saskatchewan,2005).St.Johnreceivesenough

rainfallannuallyandwhencombinedwithuseofheavyharrowsinpreviousyearsthe

hardpanhasbecomeanissue.Thisiswherecanoladiffersthanspringwheat.Canola

possessesadeepfibroustaprootthatwillgodowndeeperintothesoilandbreakupthat

hardpanbecausethetaprootisstrongerthantherootsofspringwheat.Thiswillbecomea

longtermbenefitbecausewhenwinterwheatisplantedtherootswillbeablegodeeper

intothesoil.Sincetherootswillgodeeperintothesoilthewinterwheatyieldswillbe

increasedbecauseoftheabilityoftherootstotakeupmorewater.Anotherbenefitof

canolaistheideaofbiofumigation.Scientistsclaimthataftertheharvestofthecanola,

thestubblereleasesabiologicalcompoundthatseemstolimittheamountoffungal
growthonthecropthatfollowsthecanola.Thiswouldalsoincreaseyieldsandreduce

ourinputcostswhilealsogrowinghealthiercrops(Norton,1999).Thebiologicalbenefits

aresignificantandwillprovidecropbenefitsandsoilbenefitsinthefuture.Canolaisnt

justafinancialdecisiontoday;itisabiologicaldecisionthatimprovestomorrow.

AlternativeCropstoCanola

ThereareothercropsthatcanbegrownintheSt.Johnarea.Croprotationisessentialand

hasmanybenefitswiththemainbenefitbeingincreasedyieldsovertime.Croprotation

alsoisamajorfactorinreducingweedsandreducinginputsbyprovidingthesoilwitha

nutrientcyclethatismorenatural(Christenson,2012).Thereisonerotationalcropthatis

grownmoreprevalentlythananyotherrotationalcropandthatisspringwheat.Spring

wheathaslongbeenthesecondrotationalcropinthreeyearrotations.Springwheat

whilealwaysprofitabledoesntprovidethebiologicalbenefitsthatcanolaprovides.

Springwheatalsohasashownasmallerprofitthanspringcanola.Manyfarmerswillnot

strayfromspringwheatbecausetheyhavegrownspringwheatfordecadesandknow

exactlyhowtoprofitfromgrowingspringwheat.Anotherrotationalcropthatcouldbe

producedisspringbarleybecausespringbarleyhasproventobeprofitable.Barley

thoughhasbeensignificantlylessprofitablethanspringbarley.Theincomeonspring

barleyis$55.00lesswhencomparedtospringwheat(Robertson,2006).Consideringthe

factthatbothspringwheatandspringbarleyarecerealgrains,theirrootsystemissimilar

towinterwheat.Thisdoesntprovidethebiologicalbenefitsofcanolabecausetheroots
donotbreakupthehardpanwhereasthetaprootofacanoladoes.Thisfactisthatspring

canolawouldbethemosteffectiveandprofitablerotationalcrop.

Sources

McNabb,Julie.CanolaBeforeWinterWheat:APerfectFit.CanolaDigest.2009:

pages1415

GovernmentofSaskatchewan.DeepTillage:DistributionofSoloneticSoilsin

Saskatchewan.2005

Norton,R.Kierkegaard,T.Angus,T.Potter,T.CanolainRotations.1999:pages17

Boyles,M.Peeper,T.Medlin,C.HarvestingOklahomaWinterCanolaSwathingvs.

DirectCombiningPlantandSoilsDepartment2004:pages17

Christensen,H.Behave,S.Meredith,S.Ulmer,K.CropRotationEuropean

Community.2012:pages19