Agricultural News
Veteran Canola Grower Stresses Residue Management at Canola College Event
Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:59:17 CDT
Veteran canola producer Jeff Scott, who is a farmer near Pond Creek and president of the Great Plains Canola Association was one of the presenters at the recent Canola College in Enid. The event was sponsored by the GPCA and hosted almost 300 producers. The day's presentations covered a wide range of topics suited to beginning producers all the way up to seasoned veterans.
Scott joined Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays on the latest edition of Canola TV on Youtube. (You can watch this episode by clicking in the video box at the bottom of this story.) Scott said they structured the program to appeal to and educate the widest variety of farmers possible.
"We're covering the spectrum with our program today. This is the first year that Great Plains Canola has headed up Canola College and, so, that's pretty special for us. We're running the gamut with our programs tailored to the beginning farmer, the guy that's been growing it for two or three years and right on up to veteran grower that's wanting to meet that next level of production."
Scott spoke about advanced agronomic practices that would allow seasoned growers to squeeze an extra ten bushels of canola out of each acre.
"We're trying to teach farmers the things that we have learned over our ten or eleven years with this crop, how to reach that next level of production. There are little things that you can do that we didn't do eight years ago or even five years ago that we found through on-farm research, trial and error, that gain us that yield bump. And, so, we're trying to share that with our producers out here and let them reach those maximum yield levels."
One of the topics Scott emphasized during his presentation was residue.
"We cannot stress the importance of residue management. We don't want that wheat residue in contact with our seedling. We don't want it in the seed row. So, we've offered a variety of methods that the farmer can use to fit their individual operation to control their residue, get it out of the way, and help maximize yields."
Scott says they have discovered that wheat residue has a negative effect on canola.
"We're seeing an effect with wheat residue that has a toxic effect on cotyledon canola. When that stuff is first coming out of the ground, it's a tender, small plant. We're seeing various varieties of wheat that have different toxicity levels. And, so, it is ultra important to remove that wheat residue, reduce that toxicity level to the cotyledon plant, get it out of the way and give that young, tender plant every chance possible to have the success that it can have."
Scott said the effect the wheat residue can have on the canola is enormous.
"It can be the difference between growing 1,000-pound canola and 2,000-pound-plus canola. So, it's ultra important. We've been harping on it, beating it into everybody's head and trying to really stress this residue management that starts behind the combine, continues throughout the summer, right up to the day we plant. As a no-tiller, I want my residue 364 days a year, but the day I plant, I want my residue managed."
Scott said the canola crop is looking pretty rough in his area near Pond Creek. Until the last few days, the weather has been dry and the recent freeze has been problematic as well. He says that this is the worst looking crop that he has had since 2006, but he still expects to be able to harvest a respectable crop.
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