Farms.com Home   News

Does Wider Canola Row Spacing Optimize Returns… Or Risk Consequences?

Seeding canola wide can impact everything from seed cost to weed management to disease potential, but what spacing offers the best reward and least risk?

Typical row spacing in most commercial canola fields varies from seven to 12 inches. That’s higher than the six-to-eight-inch spacing used in canola’s earliest years, and much more precise thanks to today’s seeding technology.

Given new research findings and increasing agronomic understanding, is seven to 12 inches the very best option? Could a specific spacing inside that range offer maximum yield or quality benefit, or could going wider, say 15 inches or even 18, save seed while optimizing disease management?

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?