Residue management is a significant challenge for producers on a year-to-year basis. Wheat and canola crops are often grown in rotation, and it is important to understand how wheat crop residue management can affect the emergence of canola in a rotation.

Crops that can readily exploit and utilize soil nutrients more efficiently require less fertilizer inputs, offsetting input costs and reducing potential losses to the environment.

Researchers wanted to continue the work to learn more about root microbiomes, identify the core microbiome in canola and in turn, improve fertilizer efficency in canola.

Canola cultivar was the most influential management variable on percent emergence and early growth rate, and also significantly impacted the spatial uniformity of emergence in this observational study.

A Saskatchewan Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Scoring Functions were successfully developed. This provides the foundation for developing tools that are capable of transforming a farmer’s routine soil test data into a Saskatchewan Soil Health Score.

Researchers initiated a two-year study in 2018 to determine the maximum safe rate of seed-placed P fertilizer with different opener widths and row spacing in canola; and to develop updated seed-placed P fertilizer guidelines for producers and crop advisors to use.

Lygus bugs are a sporadic pest of canola at the pod stage across parts of western Canada. In this four-year study, researchers were interested in validating the economic thresholds of lygus in commercial canola fields across western Canada.

The surveillance network identified a total of 157,407 arthropods of 418 species from 317 sampled areas in southern and central Alberta. Sampling by the surveillance network developed a geographically extensive database on the distribution and abundance of beneficial arthropods found in Canadian prairie croplands.

Fertigation is the application of fertilizer in irrigation water. This practice offers producers a means to maximize their fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency in high-yield canola production.

The outer surfaces of land plants are covered by a complex water-repelling material referred to as cuticular wax. This layer plays a fundamental role in prevention of water loss from the plant and in defense against attack by insect pests and fungal pathogens.

The canola flower midge Contarinia brassicola Sinclair (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is a newly-described species that induces galls on canola, Brassica napus Linnaeus (Brassicaceae) (Mori et al. 2019). The galls prevent flowers from opening and subsequent pod formation.

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan conducted a study to assess the nature and permanence of sequestered soil organic carbon (SOC) i) in contrasting Saskatchewan soils after 21 years of conservation management practices and ii) in soils with contrasting land management histories.

Clubroot maps can serve as important tools for grower education, the selection of effective disease management strategies, and assessing disease risk in specific regions.

In 2016, a new species of midge, Contarinia brassicola Sinclair (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), that develops on canola (Brassica napus L., Brassicaceae) was discovered in Saskatchewan and Alberta (Mori et al. 2019). At the time, nothing was known about its biology or potential impact on canola production.

With improved genetic pod shatter resistance and increasing producer confidence in the practice, straight-combining canola has become increasingly common in western Canada to the extent that the proportion of acres that are straight-combined in 2020 could approach 50%.

The swede midge, Contarinia nasturtii (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is an invasive insect pest of canola (Brassica napus L. and B. rapa L.) and other brassicaceous vegetable crops in Canada.

Many producers use natural air drying (NAD) systems to minimize the capital and operating costs of grain drying; however, very little practical information or best management practices are currently available.

Canola is an essential crop in the Canadian Prairies, and canola losses are an unfortunate part of harvest that must be managed by producers. Canola losses can be categorized as environmental losses, header losses, or combine losses.

Neonicotinoids are an important family of insecticides in Saskatchewan, and are estimated to contribute to agricultural production in excess of $15 billion annually.

Neonicotinoid insecticides are used as a seed treatment for a variety of crops worldwide, including canola. Those treated crops contain low residues of neonicotinoids in nectar and pollen, however the true impact on honey bee health is disputed and controversial.