Palliser’s Triangle is considered one of the most arid sections of the Canadian Prairies and led the man for whom it is named to once remark the area wasn’t fit for man nor beast due to its sandy soil and unpredictable rainfall.
Although that may have been true when Capt. John Palliser mapped the area for the British army in the late 1800s, the region could soon prove to be a good fit for efforts to boost canola production in Western Canada.
The triangular swath of land is part of the Brown soil zone that extends up from the U.S. border through south-central Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. While the region’s hot summer temperatures and sporadic rainfall have prompted many farmers to avoid including canola in their rotations in the past, some believe that could soon change, including the Canola Council of Canada (CCC).
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Increased crush capacity
The Canola Council of Canada recently began efforts to encourage expansion of canola acres in the Brown soil zone. Curtis Rempel, vice-president of crop production and innovation for the CCC, says there are two factors driving those efforts.
First and foremost is an expansion of canola crushing capacity in the area. Work on several new or expanded crushing plants in and around Regina, Sask., is expected to be completed within the next couple of years, which could boost crushing capacity in Canada by 50 per cent. That increased crushing capacity will likely mean increased demand for canola seed and could cause some growers to reconsider including it in their rotations, Rempel says.
“Historically, we know when a crush plant has gone into a region like Yorkton, the canola inclusion in rotations has increased when crush capacity has shown up in an area,” he explains. “It will draw canola from a wide region, but the growers around you are going to realize some near-term economic opportunities. I think they are looking at that and hence the interest from growers and also from commercial agronomists.”
The other factor that could lead to increased canola acres in the Brown soil zone, Rempel says, is recent developments in plant breeding that have produced new varieties of canola that are more heat and drought tolerant. That could give crops such as Brassica juncea, which is grown for seed used in the production of mustard, a run for their money in a region in which they have traditionally been a better fit for many farmers.
“There are a number of growers (in the region) who have begun growing canola and they’ve been successful at it,” Rempel says, adding their success has led other nearby farmers to consider canola.
Best management strategies
Because canola is a relatively new crop in the Brown soil zone, it poses something of a challenge for many farmers who may be unfamiliar with it. It also raises questions such as what the best varieties are to grow in drier regions, what is the best seeding depth and what kind of equipment is required for seeding.
That’s why the CCC recently launched an effort to determine the challenges and disease threats posed in the area and create a list of best management practices (BMP) to help farmers overcome those challenges.
“From the Canola Council’s perspective, we’re looking at how can we make growers (in the area) successful,” Rempel says.
“It’s critical getting those BMPs and tailoring them for the Brown (soil zones). We know a lot about what to do in the Black and the Gray (soil zones). In some cases, the BMPs may be the same (in the Brown soil zone), but I’m guessing a lot of the best management practices will have to change and be more nuanced. There are different nuances for the Brown soil zone.”
One of the challenges in determining those best management practices will be the fact that little research has been conducted on growing canola in the Brown soil zone in the past. Rempel says that’s why the CCC is spearheading efforts to conduct new research in the region and is looking to work with both public and private partners as part of a team approach.
“We need some really good research to give growers some really definitive guidelines. I think the piece we’re really going to be focusing on in the next year or two is getting that research right,” he says.
“I think one of the canola success stories is we’ve had really robust public sector and private sector engagement. AAFC, the universities, private companies, life science companies and fertilizer companies have all partnered together to do some of this basic agronomy research that’s really helped to make canola successful. We’re looking at recreating that in the Brown soil zone and we may have to build some capacity to do that.”
Grower surveys
Rempel notes the first step in those efforts will be determining the proper research protocols in order to answer the questions that are of the most immediate concern to growers.
Last year, the CCC conducted a series of questionnaire-based surveys for both growers and agronomists in the Brown soil zone. The aim was to understand what management practices are currently in place and what information gaps growers are faced with, and also to learn how growers and agronomists prefer to receive information on canola production. The CCC will use these findings to help determine what the council’s research priorities should be.
One of those research priorities could be equipment requirements, since some farmers in the region may not have the machinery necessary to plant canola, Rempel says.
“I think there’s going to have to be some equipment investment for growers because they don’t have the necessary equipment that is capable of or can be adapted to seeding a small-seeded crop like canola. There may be a capital investment that growers are going to have to look at,” he adds.
Another potential area of research could be an investigation into better moisture prediction tools. Rempel says while Environment Canada and other groups do a good job of forecasting the weather, growers require better and more near-term weather prediction, and it needs to be determined who can best deliver such a service to growers in the Brown soil zone where moisture is much more limiting and sporadic.
Rempel says the CCC’s goal is to have the research efforts begin as soon as possible with on-farm field trials taking place during the coming growing season.
Higher risk crop
That’s likely music to the ears of canola growers like Troy LaForge. LaForge owns a 1,200-acre farm near Cadillac, Sask., in the heart of the Brown soil zone where he grows barley, durum and lentils as pedigreed seed crops. He added canola to his rotation three years ago in an effort to help control the weeds kochia and Canada thistle.
LaForge acknowledges he felt some initial hesitancy about growing canola because of the challenges he and other growers in the region face.
“There was definitely apprehension,” he recalls. “You don’t have to go very far north of us and it works quite well (there), but there’s an area down where we’re at where there’s a line in the sand and where rainfall is significantly less. It’s definitely a higher risk crop for us.”
LaForge says research specific to the Brown soil zone would be extremely valuable to growers like him, since most of the data that is currently available was gathered in the Dark Brown and Black soil zones and doesn’t necessarily apply to their particular circumstances.
“Oh absolutely, no question,” he says. “Something like seed rate would be pretty important (to address). Probably some staged rates of fertility might be important here as well where we’ve got a longer growing season and you can manipulate your fertility here as well over a longer period of time. Weed control options are also critical, just because the Light Brown soil zone has its own unique weed issues lots of the time.”
LaForge says he has definitely seen a growing interest in canola among farmers in the region, something he attributes in large part to the fact many growers see it as a strong rotational crop. His advice to growers who might be considering adding canola to their rotation is to plan ahead.
“I think it’s absolutely critical to put together a good plan if you haven’t grown it before,” LaForge says.
“The biggest thing is to put together a complete plan on what your expectations are — make sure that you’re soil testing, make sure that you’re putting it in a strong position in a rotation where it’s not going to have residual herbicide issues, and make sure you’re choosing varieties that have a seasonality that suits your area and a herbicide tolerance that suits the weed spectrum that you’re trying to target.”
The CCC hasn’t set any acre or yield targets in the Brown soil zone. Rempel explains the organization’s primary focus is on helping growers to be more profitable.
“It’s not just about increased yield or acres, it’s about increased profitability as well. That’s really our focus. We’re looking to meet that growing international demand for canola, both for food and biofuel,” he says.
