For anyone wondering how Bob Mastin of Sundre, Alta., made out with harvest of his new higher-yielding Polish canola seed varieties, Mastin says the yield was “very good.”
The owner of Mastin Seeds says he is fielding calls daily from growers across Western Canada looking to line up a portion of their canola acres in 2011 to a Polish variety.
“The phone is ringing every day,” says Mastin. “Farmers aren’t just asking questions they are booking seed and many are large orders — one or two tonnes at a time. I sure hope it passes all testing, but I don’t foresee any problems. There obviously was a demand just waiting to be filled.”
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As for yields and quality, the two new varieties Mastin produced in 2010 “were very good considering the year.” The ACSC18, most likely to called Early One, yielded about 32 bushels per acre on the field seeded at only two pounds per acre, and 38 bushels per acre on the field seeded at three pounds per acre.
By comparison, “my high-yielding early InVigor Argentine (variety), seeded with the same drill, on similar soil, in the same area and with similar fertility, but seeded at six pounds per acre, yielded about 45 bushels per acre and took 34 days longer to do it,” he says. “I’m very happy. I think we have a winner with Early One.”
Mastin who was also looking for names for the numbered varieties says he did receive many good name suggestions including Early in Polish from a farmer in Manitoba. Many of the suggestions came from Manitoba.
