Canola seeding rates

[farming101]

We go by what the bag tag says but do check with a seed counter if we have time. The tag has been known to be wrong. Good value for the money with that
With an independent opener drill we assume that they are all going to grow. Likely none too wise but with the price of seed a little corner cutting is in order. Honestly established plant counts have been very close to the seeding rate.

[Guest]

farma. scared of that also , so we always float 150- 200 #s fines in fall along with 70-80 #s nh3 then another 10-15 N with drill for a blend of 120-140 n -35-10-48 seems to work good. still double shoot that 100 #s product through atom jet same plane openers .10 " spacing . nothing goes in seed boot .experts all say you need starter fert in seed row but i have left hundreds of test strips with single shooting. never any difference

[greybeard]

What are your experiences with low plant count?
If you have GOOD WEED CONTROL have you been disappointed with yield on low plant populations?

[Guest]

we left canola a few years that had been froze 3 times. crop ins said we had 1 plant per square ft left we really concentrated on weed control like you say and combined 55 bpa all the reseeded stuff around us went 35bpa but weed control is key

[farmaholic]

perfecho, we're seeding at about 4.5. this year and last. Even last year there seemed to be too many plants. I am kinda scared to go too low. My goodness, 5 used to be the recommended rate, 4.5 is 10% less, 4 lbs./acre is a whopping 20% less than the old 5 lbs./ac recommendations. ......that's substantially less. What do you think?

[fjlip]

perfecho, we're seeding at about 4.5. this year and last. Even last year there seemed to be too many plants. I am kinda scared to go too low. My goodness, 5 used to be the recommended rate, 4.5 is 10% less, 4 lbs./acre is a whopping 20% less than the old 5 lbs./ac recommendations. ......that's substantially less. What do you think?

We have seeded about 4 Lbs/acre for last 8 years, lots thick enough. When we did 5-6, got thin spindly short hard to swath plants. All this with a worthless 5710 that NOBODY wants. Cost is near zero, crop is as good as $500,000 drills? Agree, way more than the 50% emergence suggested. Just drive SLOW, most are in TOO big a hurry due to size of farm. I have lots of time till June 7 to seed our little farm.

[farmaholic]

fj, seeding canola as low as 3.8 to 3.9 mph maybe creep up to 4 downhill, must look silly but I want to do a good job. Even the cereals and peas weren't seeded much over 4.3mph.

[furrowtickler]

Agree, canola - seed slow - pays everytime
We now stay below 4mph as well.
Rule of thumb : 4 gram - 3.5 lbs , 5 gram , 4.25 lbs , 6 gram plus stay at 5 With most drills
corn planters can be halved in good conditions

[bigzee]

I seeded Canterra 1990 and the CS2000, as well as D3155C @ 4.8-5 lbs that's 10-11 plants, all varieties were 4.2-4.3g/1000
Likely a bit heavy but rather that than the other way, seeded with a Seedhawk. Speed of 4.7 avg.

[JDGreen]

Spot on furrows rates here. I don't get the seed so slow thing. Not that I race down the field full retard but all day long at 4.8mph with a seedmaster. Every year do the same thing 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 check strips and see ZERO difference. Is speed really as crucial as air velocity and proper placement?? Secondly never put any fert down the seed knife therefore ultra low air velocities equals low damage equals lower mortality rate. Not huge acres of canola grown here so always find it interesting to hear others opinions from pure canola zones.