County Agent News

Dan Folske

August 2, 2010

Canola Burn Down

Do you straight cut canola or want to try it?  The EPA has recently issued a label for the use of Reglone Desiccant as a preharvest dessicant on Canola. This burndown product may make it easier to straight cut canola acres.

The supplemental label for this use allows Reglone to be applied at a rate of 1 ½ to 2 pts per acre with 15 gallons of water by ground or 5 gallons by air. There is a minuim preharvest interval of 7 days. The label also recommends that harvesting is done no later than 10 days after application.

Research done at Minot indicates that application be done when seeds in the middle pods has started to turn color. When application timing is done at the same stage as swathing yields, test weight, oil content, green count and other crop quality parameters are similar for desicant treatments compard to swathing. Early treatments can increase green counts and lower test weights and yield similar to swathing too early. Some treatments at Langdon also indicated problems with obtaining adequate coverage when application is made to severely lodged canola. Canola on the bottom in lodged areas remained green and did not dry down.

Another parameter to the research done at Minot and Langdon was harvest dates of seven DAT (days after treatment) versus 14 DAT. Statistically there was more seed loss at 14 DAT than at seven DAT however it was minimal from an agronomic standpoint being less than 50 lbs/acre. In some treatment timings at some locations yields were actually higher at the 14 DAT harvest date.