Manitoba Canola Growers Association releases results from trial types

Manitoba Canola Growers Association has released a report from its Canola On-Farm Research program.

The program started in 2022 with three trial types across 12 trial locations. It has since grown to include five trial types and 37 testing locations across Manitoba. The program aims to collaborate with farmers, agronomists, and researchers to provide the most relevant and valuable information to its members.

Amy Delaquis is Research and Agronomy Manager with Manitoba Canola Growers Association. She notes their Canola On-Farm Research program runs alongside other commodity groups in Manitoba. 

"We work with farmers across the province to test different kinds of new and improved production practices on their farm," explains Delaquis. "So, they're typically field scale trials that we help farmers run."

She notes they take the data from the trials throughout the year, making sure that those trials are harvested and that the data is collected properly. Manitoba Canola Growers Association then analyzes the results, writes its report, and provides that information back to the farmers and to the other canola growers in Manitoba. This helps them understand how some of the new practices and products are performing at the farm level, in different areas of Manitoba and across different farm types.

The Canola On-Farm Research program results for 2024 are contained in a 32-page document. Last year's trial types included nitrogen rate, seeding rate, seed placed fertilizer toxicity, phosphorus source and cover cropping for flea beetle management. 

"We did (last) year have a little bit different results than the past two years," says Delaquis, noting they will typically offer different trial types on different years, depending on what farmers are interested in. 

"(Last) year for our nitrogen rate trials, we had six different locations that we tested nitrogen rates," says Delaquis. "And we actually saw that every farmer that we worked with, their rates that they were using on their farms were actually already sufficient for maximizing yield at those sites."

She notes they were not actually seeing yield bump from nitrogen; they were seeing other yield-limiting factors at those sites, other than nitrogen, which is different from previous years.