Cubins, Julija

Darby, Heather

Emick, Hillary

Gupta, Abha

Ziegler, Sara

English

UVM ScholarWorks

University of VermontScholarWorks @ UVMNorthwest Crops & Soils Program UVM Extension2016Winter Canola Variety TrialHeather DarbyUniversity of Vermont, heather.darby@uvm.eduSara ZieglerUniversity of VermontJulija CubinsUniversity of VermontHillary EmickUniversity of VermontAbha GuptaUniversity of VermontFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/nwcspPart of the Agricultural Economics CommonsThis Report is brought to you for free and open access by the UVM Extension at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion inNorthwest Crops & Soils Program by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contactdonna.omalley@uvm.edu.Recommended CitationDarby, Heather; Ziegler, Sara; Cubins, Julija; Emick, Hillary; and Gupta, Abha, "Winter Canola Variety Trial" (2016). Northwest Crops& Soils Program. 193.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/nwcsp/193 © January 2016, University of Vermont Extension   2016 Winter Canola Variety Trial    Dr. Heather Darby, UVM Extension Agronomist Sara Ziegler, Julija Cubins, Hillary Emick, and Abha Gupta UVM Extension Crops and Soils Technicians (802) 524-6501  Visit us on the web at http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil    2016 WINTER CANOLA VARIETY TRIAL Dr. Heather Darby, University of Vermont Extension heather.darby[at]uvm.edu  Winter canola is a relatively new crop to the Northeast. The majority of the canola grown in North America is grown in the Midwestern U.S. and Canada for both culinary oil as well as biodiesel production. Winter canola is planted in the late summer where it grows through the fall before entering a period of dormancy for the winter. The following spring the plants resume growth and seed is harvested during the summer months. Winter canola could potentially be a useful crop to growers in the Northeast for diversifying rotations, farm products and markets, and producing fuel on farm. However, for winter canola to be a viable crop in our region, we must identify the varieties that can survive the winter months. To do this, the Northwest Crops and Soils Team conducted a variety trial in 2015-2016. This trial was initiated as part of the National Winter Canola Variety Trial.  MATERIALS AND METHODS  A trial was conducted during the 2015-2016 season at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, VT. The experimental design was a randomized block with four replicates and fifteen varieties as treatments. Plots were 5’x 20’ and were seeded with a Great Plains grain drill (5’ wide) at a rate of 6 lbs ac-1 of viable seed on 23-Aug 2015 (Table 1). The soil was a Benson rocky silt loam and the previous crop was spring wheat.  Plant populations, height, and vigor were assessed in each plot on 14-Oct 2015. Populations were measured in a 0.25m2 area. Height was measured in three random locations in each plot. Vigor was assessed visually on a whole plot basis using a 1-5 scale where 1 was poor and 5 was very vigorous. The following spring plots were again assessed for populations to evaluate winter survival on 29-Apr 2016. Plots were fertilized on 18-May 2016 with 10-20-20 at a rate of 500 lbs ac-1.   Table 1.  Trial information and agronomic information 2015-2016. Location Borderview Research Farm - Alburgh, VT Soil type Benson rocky silt loam Previous crop  Spring wheat Plot size (ft.) 5 x 20 Seeding rate (lbs ac-1) 6 Replicates 4 Planting date 23-Aug 2015 Harvest date 18-Jul 2016 Tillage operations Fall chisel plow, disk and spring-toothed harrow Topdress fertilizer 500 lbs ac-1 10-20-20  Plots were covered with bird netting on 16-Jun 2016. Canola seed was harvested using an Almaco SPC50 plot combine on 18-Jul 2016. At harvest, moisture was determined using a DICKEY-john M20P moisture meter. Test weight was measured using a Berckes Test Weight Scale. Seeds were pressed with a Kern Kraft Oil Press KK40, and the amount of oil and meal were measured to determine oil content.  Variations in yield and quality can occur because of variations in genetics, soil, weather and other growing conditions.  Statistical analysis makes it possible to determine whether a difference among treatments is real or whether it might have occurred due to other variations in the field.  All data were analyzed using a mixed model analysis where replicates were considered random effects.  At the bottom of each table a LSD value is presented for each variable (e.g. yield).  Least Significant Differences (LSDs) at the 10% level (0.10) of probability are shown.  Where the difference between two treatments within a column is equal to or greater than the LSD value at the bottom of the column, you can be sure in 9 out of 10 chances that there is a real difference between the two values. Treatments listed in bold had the top performance in a particular column; treatments that did not perform significantly lower than the top-performer in a particular column are indicated with an asterisk. In the example above, treatment A is significantly different from treatment C but not from treatment B. The difference between A and B is equal to 400, which is less than the LSD value of 500. This means that these treatments did not differ significantly in yield. The difference between A and C is equal to 650, which is greater than the LSD value of 500. This means that the yields of these treatments were significantly different from one another. When this was not possible, due to inconsistent sample size across varieties, multiple pairwise comparisons were performed with the Tukey-Kramer adjustment.  RESULTS  Weather data was collected with an onsite Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 weather station equipped with a WeatherLink data logger. Temperature, precipitation, and accumulation of Growing Degree Days (GDDs) are consolidated for the 2015-2016 growing season (Table 2). Historical weather data are from 1981-2010 at cooperative observation stations in Burlington, VT, approximately 45 miles from Alburgh, VT.  Table 2. Weather data and GDDs for winter canola in Alburgh, VT 2015-2016   2015 2016 Alburgh, VT August  September  October November December January February March April May June July Average temperature (°F) 69.7 65.2 46.5 42.2 37.6 22.7 23.2 33.9 39.8 58.1 65.8 70.7 Departure from normal 1.00 4.70 -1.60 4.00 11.7 4.00 1.60 2.90 -4.90 1.80 0.00 0.10               Precipitation (inches) 0.00 0.30 2.50 1.80 3.50 1.30 3.60 2.50 2.60 1.50 2.80 1.80 Departure from normal -3.91 -3.30 -1.09 -1.30 1.13 -0.74 1.81 0.29 -0.26 -1.92 -0.88 -2.37               Growing Degree Days (base 32°F) 1184 1010 464 329 220 50 64 209 291 803 1017 1201 Departure from normal 45 154 -37 117 189 50 60 85 -98 50 3 4 Based on weather data from a Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 with WeatherLink data logger.  Historical averages are for 30 years of NOAA data (1981-2010) from Burlington, VT.  In general, the 2015-2016 season was drier and warmer than normal. The fall and winter months in 2015 were warmer than normal by an average of 4 degrees with December being 11.7 degrees above normal. Precipitation was below normal for every month of the growing season except for December, February, and March. Despite excessively dry conditions during establishment the trial looked very healthy and Variety               Yield A                         1600* B                         1200* C                         950 LSD (0.10)         500 populations acceptable in the fall of 2015. A mild temperatures in the winter months allowed much of the trial to survive. Overall, there were 6842 GDDs at a base temperature of 32°F, 622 more than the 30-year average.   Varieties differed significantly in height and vigor in the fall (Table 3). The tallest variety was Mercedes at a height of 37.5 cm, while the shortest was Wichita at 26.4 cm. Eight other varieties performed statistically similarly to Mercedes in terms of height. The average height for the trial was 32.3 cm. Plant vigor, which was determined visually by rating each plot on a scale of 1-5 (where 1 = poor vigor and 5= high vigor) also varied significantly by variety. Mercedes also had the highest vigor rating of 4.25 which was statistically similar to six other varieties. The variety Wichita had the lowest vigor rating of 2.00. The average vigor rating for the trial was 3.28.  Table 3. Fall height and vigor of 15 winter canola varieties. Variety Fall height Fall vigor   cm 1-5ϯ Edimax CL 32.9* 3.25 Einstein 33.2* 3.50* Hekip 32.3* 3.25 Helix 33.9* 3.50* Hornet 31.3 3.75* Inspiration 35.6* 3.75* Kadore 33.0* 3.25 KS4506 31.0 3.00 Mercedes 37.5* 4.25* Quartz 28.9 3.00 Riley 28.8 2.25 Virginia 35.7* 4.25* Wichita 26.4 2.00 15.UI.WC.1 33.8* 3.50* 15.UI.WC.05633 29.5 2.75 LSD (p = 0.10) 5.45 0.768 Trial Mean 32.3 3.28 Treatments followed by an asterisk* performed statistically similarly to the top  performer in bold. Ϯ Fall vigor; 1=low vigor and 5=high vigor.  Seed yield, moisture, and test weight all differed statistically by variety (Table 4). Yields ranged from 1103 to 2391 lbs ac-1 at 8% moisture. Mercedes, the highest yielding variety (2391 lbs ac-1), performed statistically similar to eight other varieties (Figure 1). All varieties except for Hekip, Helix, and Hornet, were harvested at a moisture of less than 10.0%. Although this moisture content is good for long term storage of seed it may have led to higher losses during harvest. Seed that is excessively dry at harvest is likely to be more prone to shattering. The ideal test weight for canola seed is 50.0 lbs bu-1. The trial average was 49.5 with the highest test weight of 51.3 lbs bu-1 being produced by Kadore. However, this was statistically similar to all but four varieties in the trial.  Table 4. Harvest characteristics for 15 winter canola varieties. Variety Seed yield Moisture Test weight   lbs ac-1 % lbs bu-1 Edimax CL 1987* 9.28* 49.9* Einstein 1855 10.6 49.4* Hekip 1878* 13.5 46.4 Helix 1103 16.9 48.6 Hornet 2120* 12.0 50.4* Inspiration 2169* 8.03* 49.5* Kadore 2139* 6.90* 51.1* KS4506 1883* 6.73* 49.4* Mercedes 2391* 8.70* 49.1* Quartz 1951* 7.60* 49.1* Riley 1775 5.53* 51.1* Virginia 1437 8.53* 48.6 Wichita 1322 5.43* 50.9* 15.UI.WC.1 1960* 8.43* 49.9* 15.UI.WC.05633 1843 9.78* 48.8 LSD (p = 0.10) 521 5.18 2.21 Trial Mean 1854 9.19 49.5 Values followed by an asterisk* performed statistically similarly to the top performer in bold.  Varieties also differed significantly in oil content and oil yield (Table 5). Oil yield is reported at 7.5% moisture. Mercedes was the top performing variety in both oil content and oil yield. It produced seed with an oil content of 32.0%, which was statistically similar to five other varieties. This translated into oil yields of 760 lbs or 100 gallons ac-1 which was statistically similar to four other varieties. Overall, oil content averaged 30.7%, slightly lower than we have observed in the past.            Figure 1. Seed yield of 15 winter canola varieties, Alburgh, VT, 2016. Values followed by an asterisk* performed statistically similarly to the top performer.Table 5. Oil yield and content for 15 winter canola varieties. Variety Oil Content Oil Yield   % lbs ac-1 gal ac-1 Edimax CL 29.8 588 77 Einstein 31.8* 585 77 Hekip 30.5 572 75 Helix 30.8 426 56 Hornet 30.9* 651* 85* Inspiration 30.6 661* 87* Kadore 29.9 642* 84* KS4506 29.6 559 73 Mercedes 32.0 760 100 Quartz 31.0* 617* 81* Riley 31.7* 558 73 Virginia 30.1 431 57 Wichita 31.0* 406 53 15.UI.WC.1 30.3 591 77 15.UI.WC.05633 30.2 555 73 LSD (p = 0.10) 1.10 158 20.7 Trial Mean 30.7 574 75 Values followed by an asterisk* performed statistically similarly to the top performer in bold.  Overall oil yields averaged 574 lbs or 75 gallons ac-1, considerably higher than we have observed in the past due to the substantial seed yields obtained and adequate oil content. Despite the drought, the winter canola performed very well this year with all varieties producing over 1100 lbs ac-1 with at least 30% oil content yielding over 50 gallons of oil ac-1. Mercedes was a top performing variety with high yields and oil content.  Winter canola is a promising oilseed crop for the northeast when winter survival is not compromised.  DISCUSSION  Due to mild winter conditions, all canola varieties successfully overwintered and were harvestable in the summer of 2016. Despite differences in vigor and height seen in the fall, all canola varieties produced yields over 1000 lbs ac-1. The dry conditions did not seem to impact production as yields averaged over 1800 lbs ac-1 and test weights averaged 49.5 lbs bu-1. Oil content averaged 30.7%, slightly lower than past year observations, however with increased seed yield, oil yields averaged 75 gal ac-1. These results indicate that there is good potential for winter canola as a viable crop in the northeast when winter survival is not an issue. By participating in the National Winter Canola Variety Trial we hope to provide data and encouragement for the development of hardier winter canola varieties suitable for this region.    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  This project was made possible through an ongoing collaboration with Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. UVM Extension would like to thank Roger Rainville at Borderview Research Farm for his generous help implementing and maintaining this research trial. We would also like to acknowledge Erica Cummings, Kelly Drollette, Julian Post, Lindsey Ruhl, and Xiaohe “Danny” Yang of the UVM Extension Northwest Crops & Soils Program for their assistance with data collection and entry.  The information is presented with the understanding that no product discrimination is intended and no endorsement of any product mentioned or criticism of unnamed products is implied.    UVM Extension helps individuals and communities put research-based knowledge to work.   Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Vermont Extension, Burlington, Vermont. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offers education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status. 

Winter Canola Variety Trial

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Winter Canola Variety Trial

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