4R Nutrient Stewardship is a tremendous success story of a decision support framework that has been widely adopted among Canadian Prairie farmers as an easily understood tool to optimize agricultural productivity through judicious fertilizer use and subsequently manage risk.

To evaluate the effect of seeding date and rate on canola flea beetle pressure, yield and quality a demonstration was conducted near Melfort (NARF), Outlook (ISask), Swift Current (WCA), and Scott (WARC), SK in 2024.

Exploring potential benefits of enhanced efficiency fertilizer (EEF) nitrogen (N) products and blends with side-banding was identified as a priority by SaskCanola. In the spring of 2025, field trials to address this topic were initiated at Indian Head, Melfort, Prince Albert, Scott, Swift Current, and Yorkton, encompassing a wide range of soil/climatic conditions.

This study examines the interactions between the full and half rates of both glufosinate and clethodim in a tank mix with and without a water conditioner across varying water qualities.

Researchers had a couple of objectives to complete during this project; the first was to identify readily applied diagnostic features for mapping small patch clubroot distributions using hyperspectral data, and to develop a diagnostic tool. Second, they wanted to refine and validate the diagnostic tool for identifying small patches of clubroot infestations.

Canola seed processing in Canada is currently optimized to obtain high quality canola oil for the vegetable oil market, while the canola meal co-product primarily goes into the livestock feed market.

Aster leafhoppers and diamondback moths migrate to the Canadian Prairies in spring and early summer on wind currents originating in the USA. Infestations of these insects are tied to migration on the winds since neither of these insects overwinters well in cold Canadian winters.

Current commercial soil testing relies upon physically removing soil from fields and shipping it to centralized labs for analysis through wet chemistry. The soil is shipped, dried, sifted and then analyzed through chemical treatment.

The objective of this field-scale trial is to determine if farms can see agronomic and economic benefits from applying nitrogen-fixing bacteria product in wheat or canola. Producer-cooperators will determine the value of utilizing this product under the typical management practices and environmental conditions of their operation.

New opportunities protecting canola yield from biotic and abiotic stress can be developed by harnessing genetic diversity found in crop wild relatives. However, significant barriers prevent breeders from accessing this variation, impeding crop improvement goals.

Weed surveys have been regularly conducted in annual crops in the Prairie Provinces since the 1970’s. In the 1990’s, a herbicide resistance survey program was also started across the Prairies. The most recent set of general weed surveys was conducted from 2019 to 2023, including herbicide resistance surveys on a subset of the same fields.

Early seeding typically results in better yielding crops, especially for canola, barley, wheat, peas and oats (Weir, 2019). But not all crops can be seeded early. This demonstration aims to show producers how their canola crop may have performed differently based on seeding date.

The project objective was to demonstrate the effects of commercially-available, foliar-applied nitrogen (N) fixing bacteria products on the yield and seed quality of canola grown under varying fertility levels and contrasting environments.

Engineering apomixis, the asexual reproduction through seeds without fertilization, will provide major advances to plant breeding. This is a technology which could quickly capture and maintain valuable genotypes and associated traits without inbreeding depression and help select for traits not available to current breeding strategies.

In a previous 2019 study, the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) completed a survey of canola harvest losses in Western Canada to identify harvest factors had an impact on combine losses.

Greater milk yield is achieved when canola meal replaces soybean meal in the diets of high producing dairy cows. In addition, persistency of milk yield is greater for cows fed canola meal. Part of the explanation for greater milk is because cows fed canola meal consumed more feed resulting in greater milk production.

The nutrient uptake and removal guidelines for crops in Western Canada were last revised in 2001 by the Canadian Fertilizer Institute (CFI). This project aimed to develop new nutrient uptake and removal guidelines for 14 annual crops grown in Western Canada, based on measurements taken from straw and seed samples.

When it comes to canola seeding rate and row width, think of your crop as a solar panel. Using crop imagery, researchers have found that canola yields are maximized with seeding rates that result in early ground cover that is maintained throughout the growing season.

For specific R genes to be effective in management of blackleg, it is essential to understand the pathogen race composition and changes in different regions. The analysis of Avr-gene frequency in the L. maculans population provides an important guidance to the selection of effective R genes in blackleg resistance breeding…

The canola flower midge, Contarinia brassicola, is a recently discovered insect pest of canola widespread across the Prairies. Damage results when larvae feed on developing flower buds which prevents the flowers from opening and forming pods.