Canola has a relatively high phosphate requirement compared to cereals, and with high yielding canola hybrids, the safe rates for seed-row placement are typically insufficient for yield optimization.

The Canola Council of Canada recommends that to reach maximum canola yield potential, the seeding rate should be sufficient to achieve a spring plant density of 5 to 8 plants/ft2.

Recognizing that an area-wide monitoring of pest and natural enemy populations is a cornerstone of integrated pest management, researchers initiated a project to develop a coordinated monitoring program in the prairies.

New sources of clubroot and blackleg resistance are needed in western Canada because virulent pathogen populations have been reported that are able to overcome the resistance of canola cultivars for both diseases.

Researchers initiated a two-year study in 2016 to evaluate the response of canola, pea and wheat to foliar applied phosphorus (P) fertilization growing in different soil zones in Saskatchewan.

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan conducted a multi-year, multi-objective research project developing, analyzing, and testing the use of biomaterials (e.g. flax shives, canola meal, and oat hulls) as a biosorbent to dry natural gas and bio-alcohols.

Cleavers are problematic weed species in canola that can reduce crop yield, impair harvest operations, and reduce crop processing efficiency. A two-year field study was conducted to better understand the biology and impact of pre-harvest herbicides on cleavers populations.

Researchers in Saskatchewan conducted a series of trials to evaluate the value of canola meal in growing/finishing beef cattle diets relative to other common protein supplements such as soybean meal and wheat dried distiller’s grains with solubles (WDDGS).

Researchers conducted several field studies in four ecoregions across the Canadian prairies to develop integrated approaches for flea beetle control for modern high-yielding canola varieties.

Researchers in Saskatchewan conducted a project to resolve the connection between primary and secondary dormancy, premature germination (sometimes found in the pods of maturing canola), overall seed biology, and seed and seedling vigour related traits across a diverse panel of Brassica napus (canola) lines.

Although clubroot resistant (CR) hybrids are available in Canada, the recent emergence of new pathotypes such as 5X and the erosion of CR in the Canadian resistant hybrids is of concern.

Researchers conducted a three-year study focusing on four key components using multiple commercial canola varieties to reveal the mechanism of race-specific and non-specific blackleg resistance.

Technology plays a larger role on the farm than ever before throughout all aspects of farming but especially through real-time sensor data collection. However, grain loss monitoring technology for combines has generally experienced minimal advancement since being introduced into the market around 1975.

Clubroot caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae has spread across central Alberta and to isolated fields in southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota since it was first identified on canola in 2003.

Cultivar resistance is considered the most effective and practical approach for clubroot management. However, current resistant canola cultivars, available in Canada since 2009, were based on a single clubroot resistance (CR) gene.

Clubroot, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, was first identified in western Canada in 2003, spreading to more than 2700 fields.

Surveillance monitoring has shown that blackleg is again increasing in incidence and severity in western Canada, in part due to breakdown of a widely used major resistance gene. Sclerotinia stem rot is also a serious disease for canola growers, particularly in severe wet and cool growing seasons.

Sustainable land management decisions and advancements in precision agriculture technologies need to be based on reliable information about soils and land capability.

Researchers initiated a four-year project in 2014 to develop a set of differential lines of spring type Brassica napus with single genes for identification of races of Plasmodiophora brassicae and for durable resistance to clubroot.

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan conducted a two-year project to further the discovery and subsequent genetic transformation for the introduction of apomixis technology into agriculture crops.