Blackleg genetics, along with seed treatments, can help you get into the season and established while protecting seedlings from blackleg for the first few weeks after seeding.

At the two- to six-leaf stage, consider using a foliar fungicide — especially if last year’s scouting showed that you had significant blackleg infection in your fields.

• Read more: Four canola diseases to watch for

Genetics, seed treatments, and fungicides can be individually effective against blackleg, but they should be supported by good agronomic practices to maintain their useful life.

Scouting to identify the disease, as well as good weed control to eliminate host weed species, are two important pillars of a successful blackleg management strategy.

The ideal time to scout for blackleg is right around maturity, or close to swathing. When scouting, cut stems just above the soil surface to check for blackleg infection symptoms. Late-season blackleg infections may look like several other issues, such as lodged or early-maturing patches, and might not otherwise raise a lot of concern.

Weed control throughout your rotation should also be top- of-mind. Controlling brassica weeds and canola volunteers is especially important, as they can be prime blackleg hosts in your non-canola growing years.

Michael Hutton, product evaluation scientist with Syngenta Canada.

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Plus, we know that blackleg and clubroot are also shifting to overcome older genetics.

How does this impact your canola hybrid decision making for 2017? Start by looking at yield performance, but look carefully at a hybrid’s agronomic package and disease resistance.

You also need to consider how a hybrid’s genetics will work with seed treatments, fungicides and other tools – like crop rotation – to help you manage diseases.

Using all of the management tools you have available will help reduce both the disease inoculum returned to your field as well as the selection pressure from those tools to help maintain their useful life.

When looking for canola hybrid performance data, remember that local performance data is great, but data that’s been replicated in a high number of sites or over multiple years will be a better predictor of a variety’s performance and yield stability.

This agronomy tip was brought to you by Michael Hutton, product evaluation scientist, oilseeds, with Syngenta Canada.

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From a risk management standpoint, those different-maturity varieties will not be at the same susceptible growth stages when high disease pressure or severe weather comes through. For example, if your hybrids are flowering at different periods, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to miss at least some of the heat blasting that can kill off flowers.

As you get closer to harvest, look carefully at your canola fields to decide whether you’re going to swath or straight cut. The Canola Council of Canada has several great agronomic recommendations for either method that can improve your chances at success.

Make sure you’re cracking pods to check the seed maturity, as that will determine when you swath, straight cut or desiccate your crop. Getting the maturity timing right can help deliver improved yield and quality through bigger seed sizes and higher oil content.

Crop maturity is also the best time to scout for diseases — like blackleg or sclerotinia — so you know what’s affecting your crop, and the potential risk for next season.

This agronomy tip was brought to you by Michael Hutton, canola product evaluation scientist with Syngenta Canada.

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That’s why I’d encourage you to look at last year’s Canola Performance Trials, provincial seed guides and any public trials to get the fullest picture of how a hybrid has performed. Look at several years of replicated trial data for performance and consistency.

That being said, without a good disease-resistance package, yields can easily fall short of expectations. With today’s increasingly tight rotations, we’re seeing disease pressure in canola crops continue to increase.

We’re also discovering just how complex blackleg and clubroot are to manage. Sclerotinia has also been on the rise.

Make sure when you’re making your seed selections this year, you’re looking carefully at your rotation. If you’ve been relying heavily on the same genetics for a number of years, consider including some new genetics to your rotation, or other agronomic and crop protection tools. An integrated management approach should increase the durability of your most important genetic tools.

Even if you haven’t historically placed much importance on disease-resistance genes, now is the year to be proactive before blackleg pressure has a chance to build up to unmanageable levels in your field.

This agronomy tip was brought to you by Michael Hutton, product evaluation scientist, oilseeds, with Syngenta Canada.

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For my money, your best source is going to be the CPT (Canola Performance Trials), available online and through provincial seed guides, and the public co-op trials. They will offer good comparison numbers in areas such as yield, days to maturity and standability.

The other benefit to the CPT trials is that many hybrids have been tested under actual production practices in large and small plot settings. One drawback is that not all of the major seed companies are represented. You would need to check out the company websites to find that data.

Wherever you go for your performance info, remember that local performance data is great, but data that’s been replicated within a site and in a high number of sites or over multiple years will give you a better picture of a variety’s performance and yield stability.

Keep in mind, 2014 was a very different season than 2015 across much of the Prairies. If you only look at non-replicated strip trial results from one site in one season, performance might not be what you expect next year.

This agronomy tip was brought to you by Michael Hutton, product evaluation scientist, oilseeds, with Syngenta Canada.

The post The low-down on new canola hybrids appeared first on Grainews.

First is yield stability. It’s an indication of how well a hybrid is likely to perform in good and bad years. You want a hybrid that produces good yields under high-stress growing conditions, not just under ideal conditions. So when you read provincial trial results, look at several years of yield data and see if the results swing dramatically. Look for a consistent performer.

Second is disease resistance. You can manage most blackleg and clubroot with the right varieties, especially important with today’s tight rotations. Remember that blackleg is more problematic to control now, so consider varieties with multiple blackleg-resistance genes (or a fungicide application to support the genetics if your field has a history of blackleg).

Last is standability. It can be an indication of how easy and efficient your harvest will be. Plus it can be a broad but indirect reflection of the variety’s ability to withstand yield robbing stresses, like wind, and stem and root diseases.

Michael Hutton, product evaluation scientist, oilseeds for Syngenta Canada Inc.

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