A few days of summer-like conditions have weeds thriving, taking up nutrients and topsoil moisture. Whether canola is already emerging, seeded but not emerging, or not yet seeded, now is a good time to remove that costly weed competition. Here are some options for each of those three situations.
Pre-seed burnoff. Fields with a large population of weeds, especially advancing winter annuals, should get a pre-seed burnoff sooner rather than later. Even if you don’t see that many weeds, those weeds present now will be more damaging to yield than any weeds that emerge later. They’re also easier to control when they’re small. Seeding can occur fairly soon after spraying.
Post-seeding, pre-emergence. If pre-seed burnoff is missed, one option is to squeeze a burnoff in the narrow post-seeding/pre-emergence window.
Post emergence. Go early. Weeds that emerge after the crop has reached the four-leaf stage are usually so far behind the crop they will have little impact on yield.
Check what’s out there in terms of weed numbers, sizes and species. This will determine the product choices and rates. If you’re in a field that got a pre-seed burnoff done, check that the weeds are dying as expected. If not, try to figure out why. Was it a sprayer miss? Could the weeds have emerged after you sprayed? Are they possibly resistant to the product applied?
What else to look for? While out checking for weeds, take a look at emergence results and drill performance. Check the topsoil moisture situation for fields that will be seeded soon. As canola emerges, note areas with atypical uniformity or missing seedlings. Finally, keep an eye out for flea beetles. The FULL ARTICLE has more details and links.
