NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
September 23, 1999
The concept is drawing the interest of many canola producers. The concept is dormant seeding, a technique that involves planting the crop into cold, nearly frozen soil to prevent germination in the fall yet allow the seeds to germinate and become viable seedlings the following spring. Timing and field selection are critical to the success of this farming practice, says a specialist with the North Dakota State University Extension Service.
"The main difficulty with dormant seeding canola is timing," says Duane R. Berglund, extension agronomist at NDSU. Soil temperatures need to be cold--at or near 32 F--but not frozen. If soils warm to 38 F or higher during the overwintering period, the seed will germinate and the seedling will be destroyed.
Producers who intend to dormant seed canola should select fields with more than 75 percent residue. Small grain fields would work well for this practice, Berglund says. Direct or no-till seeding will help ensure shallow planting depths while providing snow catch and cover to protect the soils and keep them cold into spring. He advises against broadcast seeding canola in the fall or seeding into soils already frozen because low-density, non-uniform plant stands may result in the spring.
"Don't plant many acres using this technique to start, as it can be somewhat risky and production practices must be learned first on fewer acres," Berglund stresses. "Twenty, 40 or 80 acres would be a good place to start. Don't be seeding 200 to 500 acres until more information is known about proper management techniques to minimize risk."
Some advantages of dormant seeding are that it spreads out spring planting workloads as well as swathing and harvesting times, it allows flowering during cooler weather and provides a longer flowering period, and it can reduce the risk of flea beetles due to early seedling emergence and greater plant growth early in the season. Research thus far indicates that dormant seeding of canola also offers an equal or higher yield potential, compared to spring planting.
"Remember that new production techniques also bring a certain amount of risk," Berglund says.
The risks associated with the dormant seeding of canola include fall germination, which would likely result in poor stands in the spring. Weed control is another concern--particularly control of winter annuals and volunteers. An early spring warm-up followed by a hard frost could affect stand establishment. And, seedling vigor may be lacking.
This fall, polymer-coated canola seed is being made available by several seed companies, Berglund says. The polymer seed coating allows the canola to be planted earlier, before soil freeze-up, and it inhibits the seed from germinating in the warmer soils prior to freezing.
To provide more information on the dormant seeding of canola, the NDSU Extension Service will be sponsoring three North Dakota workshops, along with the Northern Canola Growers Association. The workshops will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 28, at the North Central Research Extension Center in Minot, Wednesday, Sept. 29, at the Carrington Research Extension Center, and Thursday, Sept. 30, at the Cavalier County Courthouse in Langdon. All workshops begin with registration at 9 a.m.
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Source: Duane R. Berglund (701) 231-8135
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136