Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The targeted audience would be canola producers and potential canola producers as well as private and public sector individuals involved in canola production. While a majority of the focus of the project has been on issues and challenges faced by producers in the southern Great Plains, information provided could have far-reaching benefits to other canola producing areas. Furthermore, while the focus of a majority of the objectives is applied in nature, data collected from these trials will have very important and broad implications on the scientific community. Information providedcould be foundational for further funding opportunities in the future. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Several major events have been provided through this project as a means to further training and educational opportunity for canola growers and land managers in the region. Canola college, the premier conference for canola in the southern Great Plains was held in Enid, Oklahoma in February 2017. This meeting was attended by over 125 growers from Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. Topics provided included management practices and techniques, integrated pest management systems, and growers experiences. This meeting also included a learning laboratory that paired hands-on demonstrations with talks that occurred throughout the meeting. A second premier event was Canola 101. This meeting had a different focused audience and was intended for individuals that did not have extensive experienced with canola production, including bankers, insurance adjusters, risk management, and the general public. Information provided included" "What is canola", "How does canola grow", and "What are the benefits of canola". How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Several outreach opportunities were present as a result of this project as well as based on the results obtained by this project. A total of 26 events occurred throughout this funding period with over 600 attendees at these events. This provided 423 unique contacts. This not only shows the wide-reaching nature of the project but also several attendees of events returned to learn about canola in successive events during the same funding period. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Winter canola has become a prominent crop in the southern Great Plains. However, lack of knowledge on optimum production practices paired with challenging environmental conditions has not only limited acres in the region but also limited yield potential. Results from this project have begun to identify cultivars, production practices, harvesting and storage techniques, and pest management strategies that could be used to increase the adaptability and productivity of this crop in the southern Great Plains region. Furthermore, information gathered will help promote canola as a valuable rotational crop and a foraging source for native and non-native pollinators. Objective 1) Evaluate winter canola germplasm for regional suitability and disease resistance for successful production in the southern Great Plains. The varietal evaluations experienced the challenges associated with canola production in the southern Great Plains. A total of 17 site locations were established; however, only 10 of those locations were taken to yield. These trials were lost due to excessive winterkill (Oklahoma), hail damage (Oklahoma and Texas), and poor vernalization (Texas). When comparing cultivars that were held consistent through all evaluation locations, Oklahoma trials outperformed the Texas location. While the difference was present in overall yields, the cultivars that performed well in Oklahoma performed similarly, compared to other cultivars, at the Texas locations. As lack of vernalization is a major issue for central and southern Texas, 3 trials were established to evaluate spring canola lines. When compared to the winter canola trials, the spring canola cultivars did not yield as high but all three locations were carried through harvest. This has the potential to provide growers in more southern areas of Texas with a more stable alternative canola system. Crop suitability to a region is not solely dependent on performance but also its ability to persist in the presence of pest pressure. Blackleg is the most widespread disease in the southern Great Plains. Evaluations showed limited races of blackleg in production fields throughout the region, with three predominate combinations of alleles being Av1, 4, 6, 7; Av1, 6, 7; and Av6, 7. When evaluating the susceptibility of commercially available canola cultivars, challenges existed in successfully finding a susceptible check that was well adapted for the climate in the southern Great Plains, with winter survival being the primary issue. When evaluating these commercial cultivars, over half of those screened (68%) were found to have some degree of susceptibility to blackleg. 2) Improve crop management practices for winter canola in the southern Great Plains. To improve crop management the PIs evaluated various topics, including crop management, rotations, inputs, and even post-harvest management. From an input management perspective, plant growth regulator (PGR) management was a prominent topic. Evaluations found little consistent impact from PGRs on winter canola winter survival or yields. There was some indication that above- and below-ground growth could be manipulated; however, these effects were not seen following the first major freeze event. Initial stand establishment and early-season growth are critical for canola production systems. This makes optimizing planting practices critical in order to be successful. Findings indicated that narrow row-spacing resulted in higher yields than wider spacing. An average of 10% yield loss could be expected by increasing row width to 30-inch spacing. Similar to what has been previously found, row spacing under 15-inches did not significantly alter yields although a slight yield decline was noted. Lower seeding rates did not negatively influence yields, where a 16% decrease in yields could be seen by planting similar rates on more narrow row spacing. Canola has and will continue to be an important crop within a crop rotation due to all the benefits it provides. Crops following canola, when grown as part of a full-season rotation, have continued to show a 9-26% increase in yields compared to those grown in continuous production. However, issues have arisen when growing canola behind certain wheat cultivars. With over 70 winter wheat varieties tested, nine were found to negatively impact canola winter survival, which in turn resulted in lower grain yields. The cause of this lower winter survivability was due to poorer stand establishment and limited root growth. However, significant reductions were only noted when "allelopathic" wheat cultivars were paired with sub-optimal conditions, such as drought or rapid freeze events. Post-harvest storage of canola is an aspect of production that is very limited in the literature. Initial findings documented that storage temperatures significantly influenced the aging and seed quality, with cooler temperatures resulting in better quality than those stored at room temperature. When comparing genetic material, hybrids had better storage capacity and maintained quality longer than the OP glyphosate-tolerant cultivars. 3) Improve pest management strategies for canola production in the southern Great Plains. Insects are an important component of canola production, both through a pest management aspect as well as from a beneficial relationship. The interest from scientist, growers, as well as the general public in the impact agriculture production, has on pollinator activity and health. Five commercial honeybee hives were measured were evaluated in both canola fields and native prairie. Placing hives within or near canola fields greatly improved productivity and did not negatively influence the health of the honeybees. Less than 2% mortality was noted when placed in canola production systems, with no significant increase of mites or diseases found. Compared to native pastures, hives placed in canola fields resulted in a 0.6 lbs increase per day. Insect pests have become a more difficult challenge in production systems in the southern Great Plains. Sentinel plots established throughout the prominent canola producing areas have found an increased number of pests early in the production season and a higher number of pests occurring during late fall growth and into dormancy. Oklahoma State University Pest E-Alert was used to rapidly information growers of insect pressure potential. Furthermore, results have shown a decreased efficacy of pyrethroids at being able to control various Lepidoptera species. The use of a more targeted insecticide (Prevathon®) still provided adequate control. As canola was originally adopted into Oklahoma systems as a means to control challenging grassy weeds in continuous wheat production, weed management systems are critical. Trials indicated that the use of Clomzone (Command ®) had minor to moderate degrees of phototoxicity compared to other chemicals evaluated. However, even with higher rates of discoloration, no significant yield reduction occurred. The efficacy of these programs is also very environmentally driven. Trifluralin was the more stable pre-plant herbicide evaluated with adequate control still present 28 days following applications. 4) Build value in canola acres through investigation of soil health and rotational benefits. Unfortunately, all trials for this section had nearly 90% winter kill and no data was able to be collected.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Lofton, J., M. Manucherhi, and V. Bodnar. Impact of late-season herbicide applications on winter canola yield and seed quality

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of this project will be all stakeholders in the southern Great Plains. While a majority of the data and extension efforts detailed in this project will focus on challenges and concerns of winter canola producers for Oklahoma and Texas, many individual projects will address issues that would be of interest to producers outside of the region and have the potential to be critical to other winter canola producing regions in the US or internationally. In addition, information gathered and management practices developed will be a viable tool for industry representatives, extension educators, certified crop advisors, and private consultants that work with canola producers within the region. Furthermore, several components of the project will address issues that will be important to environmental industry and agencies as well as the general public. Overall, due to the scope of this project, there is a wide range of audiences that will find value in the outcomes developed. Therefore, a major focus of the extension effort will be to develop materials that are transferable to not only agriculture minded individuals but also the general public as a whole. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Results from all trials have all been disseminated through multi-faceted outreach approach that has included rapid delivery of results, including social media, blog posts, training videos, and television programs, as well as through more traditional outreach tools, including field days, conferences, and fact sheets. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A total of 530 individuals participated in a total of 21 events throughout the funding period. These included a mix of extension meetings, field days, field tours, training sessions, and conferences. When critical thresholds were reached in these sentinel plots or surround fields, updates were provided through Oklahoma State University Pest E-Alert (http://entoplp.okstate.edu/pddl/advistory.htm). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Winter canola is an increasingly important crop in the southern Great Plains. Canola can produce adequate yields to be competitive with other crops in the region. Additionally, a 25% increase in yield of other crops, particularly wheat, following canola. This paired with competitive canola prices has led to an increase in acres to nearly 210,000 in 2016. While this has been a drastic increase from a decade ago, environmental conditions and an incomplete understanding of canola crop management practices have limited yield and acres. One of the most impactful decisions that growers can make during a growing season is cultivar selection. Identifying cultivars that have developed resistance through traditional breeding techniques is vital to not only protect yield, due to disease frequently decreasing yields by up to 5 bushels per acre ($35 per acre) but will also decrease the reliance of pesticide use and therefore decrease production costs associated with producing canola. Several aspects of the project have focused on crop and pest management and finding management practices that can increase productivity while also increasing the profitability of the crop. For example, understanding optimum fertility, seeding rate, seeding orientation, and input management has the potential to increase canola growers net profits by $5.25 to $42.50 per acre through cost savings or increased productivity. These and other issues addressed in this project will contribute to continued growth of canola in the region as well as stability of the industry in the southern Great Plains. 1) Evaluate winter canola germplasm for regional suitability and disease resistance for successful production in the southern Great Plains. A total of 20 variety trials were conducted across Oklahoma and Texas. As a means to consistently evaluated cultivars, 10 cultivars were selected and held constant across all evaluation areas. For the 2016 season, 9 winter canola variety locations were harvested across Oklahoma (3 others lost to winter kill) and one was collected in Texas (four others lost to hail damage or lack of vernilization). In Oklahoma, yields ranged from 4260 to 760 lbs per acre, while for Texas, yields ranged from 2615 to 345 lbs per acre. As lack of vernalization is a major issue for central and southern Texas, 3 new trials were established to evaluate spring canola lines. Yields were not as high for the spring cultivars compared to the winter cultivars; however, more consistent yields were found for the more southern locations. For cultivars to be suitable for a region they not only need to perform well in the given production systems but also need to persist the many pest pressures in the region. Races of the black leg pathogen include three predominant combinations of alleles (Av1,4,6,7; Av1,6,7; and Av6,7). Most (68%) of the 63 entries screened to date were susceptible to all races. 2) Improve crop management practices for winter canola in the southern Great Plains. The PIs have been evaluating potential allelopathic effect of winter wheat residue on winter canola productivity. Field evaluation of several winter wheat varieties and their effects on winter canola were conducted, at Stillwater and Lahoma, OK. Overall, 9 winter wheat varieties were found to have a negative impact on winter canola growth and yield, but to varying degrees. For example, planting canola behind OK Bullet resulted in 90% stand reduction following winter, while canola planted behind WB Grainfield had only 40% stand reduction following winter. Furthermore, environmental conditions, specifically soil moisture, significantly (>0.01) impacted this effect. The use of plant growth regulators in canola have the potential to increase winter survivability and frost tolerance from decreasing excessive fall growth and increasing root:shoot ratio. Four plant growth regulators were evaluated across three planting dates in Oklahoma and Texas. Overall, there was no significant influence of plant growth regulators on winter survival or yields. The application of mepiquat chloride and Metconazole did provide a decrease in vigor and plant height shortly after application. However, these treatment effects were not seen following the first major freeze event, potentially explaining the lack of impact on winter survival and yield. Planting is a critical component of canola production and, with increasing row-crop acres in the region, producers have more options for planting equipment than in previous years. The PIs in Oklahoma and Texas evaluated 7.5, 15, and 30-in row spacing planted at both 1.5 and 4 lbs per acre. Yields at both the 7.5 and 15-in spacing were yielded 10% higher than the 30-in spacing but no differences were found between 7.5 and 15-inch spacing. Lower seeding rates decreased yields by nearly 16% for more narrow row-spacings but this was not found at the wider row spacing. Post-harvest storage of canola is an aspect of production that is very limited in the literature. As this project requires harvest samples prior to trial establishment, this project's results are obtained later in the process. Data collected from this trial will be in the final report. 3) Improve pest management strategies for canola production in the southern Great Plains. Insects can be one of the most challenging pest to manage in winter canola fields in the southern Great Plains. The creation of sentinel plots provide valuable updates to let growers know when scouting needs to occur and what pests need to be scouted. Canola fields through the major canola regions were scouted through the growing season. When critical thresholds were reached in these sentinel plots or surround fields, updates were provided through Oklahoma State University Pest E-Alert (http://entoplp.okstate.edu/pddl/advistory.htm). Pollinator health have been a growing concern for the general public, especially those effected by agriculture production. To document the impact of canola production on honey bee, five hives in separate fields were evaluated throughout flowering. No evidence of mites or diseases were noted throughout the sampling period. Hive weights significantly increased when placed near canola fields, with a 0.6 lbs per day increase over the course of the sampling period. The impact on pollinators is not only important to honey bees but also native pollinators. The data from this study as well as identification of native pollinators on canola during the production season are still being quantified and data will be available at the final report. For weed management, our primary focus was on evaluation of 3 potential pre-plant chemistries. No pre-plant herbicides evaluated had any negative phototoxicity. Only trifluralin successfully controlled weeds through 28 days after application. Clomazone control was very environmentally driven. Over 70% control was seen when an adequate incorporation event occurred after application. However, when sites received too much or too little precipitation less than 30% control was achieved. 4) Build value in canola acres through investigation of soil health and rotational benefits. Unfortunately, all trials for this section had nearly 90% winter kill and no data was able to be collected. 5) Extend the knowledge and technologies gained through this project to producers, growers association, extension professionals, area agronomist, canola buyers, crushers, government agencies and the general public.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Farrow, B., J. Warren, and J. Lofton. 2016. Strategies to improve Brassica napus L. (Canola) winter survival in conservation systems. International Annual ASA-CSSA-SSSA meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Lofton, J., and J. Bushong. 2016. Evaluating winter canola cultivars through a detailed analysis of Oklahoma winter canola variety trials. International Annual ASA-CSSA-SSSA meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Lofton, J., A. Post, V. Bodnar, and J. Bushong. 2016. Use of late-season herbicide on canola yield and seed quality. International Annual ASA-CSSA-SSSA meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
• Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Royer, T., and K. Giles. 2016. Pest E-Alerts Website. http://entoplp.okstate.edu/pddl/advisory.htm.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Wynne, K., C. Neely, and D. Hathcoat. 2016. Germination rates of spring canola and spring wheat cultivars in response to high temperatures. International
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Neely, C., C. Trostle, J. Bell, J. McGinty, D. Hathcoat, E. Kimura, S. McLellan, P. DeLaune, and M. Stamm. 2016. 2016 Texas Uniform Canola Variety Trials. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Publication SCS-2016-24.
• Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Stamm, M., S. Dooley, S. Angadi, A. Asfeld, B. Baldwin, T. Beedy, S. Begna, J. Bell, S. Berg, A. Berrada, H. Bhardwaj, M. Blair, J. Brown, J. Bushong, B. Caldbeck, C. Caldbeck, G. Cramer, J. Damicone, H. Darby, J. Davis, J. de Koff, D. Delaney, P. DeLaune, E. Eriksmoen, A. Esser, J. Gassett, M. Gilmer, S. Gulick, D. Hathcoat, T. Higgins, J. Holman, J. Holmes, K. Hunter, J. Johnson, P. Lange, J. Lofton, C. Mansfield, S. Maxwell, P. Miller, J. Morrison, C. Neely, C. Pearson, T. Pierson, C. Rife, B. Rushing, D. Santra, R. Schrock, P. Sexton, J. Shockey, T. Thomas, W. Thomason, C. Trostle, G. Ware, D. West, M. Wingerson, and S. Ziegler. 2017a. 2016 National Winter Canola Variety Trial. Kans. Ag. Exp. St. and Coop. Ext. Ser., Manhattan, KS.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Lofton, J., B. Arnall, and J. Bushong. 2016. Managing Winter Canola in Oklahoma. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Publication PSS-2130.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Abit, J., B. Arnall, and J. Lofton. 2016. Starter Fertilizer for Winter Canola in Oklahoma. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Publication PSS-2172.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Abit, J., and B. Arnall. 2016. Diagnosing Nutrient Deficiencies in Canola. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Publication PSS-2171
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Andreason, S., J. Damicone, and J. Lofton. 2016. Sclerotinia Stem Rot of Canola. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Publication EPP-7095.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Lofton, J., W. Vaughan, and J. Bushong. 2016. 2016 Winter Canola Performance Trials. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Publication CR-2144.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: McCauley, K., A. Post, J. Matz, and C. Goad. 2016. Controlling the overwintering capacity of winter canola using plant growth regulators to manage fall growth. International Annual ASA-CSSA-SSSA meeting, Phoenix, AZ.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Lofton, J., J. Bushong, and M. Manuchehri. 2017. Importance of Herbicide Application Timing on Winter Canola. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Publication PSS-2175
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: McCauley, K. 2016. Evaluating the impact of variable planting dates and the use of plant growth regulators on fall stand establishment, winter hardiness, and yield of winter canola in Oklahoma. MS Thesis. Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Abit, M.J., K. Weathers, and D.B. Arnall. 2016. Evaluating the impact of starter fertilizer on winter canola grown in Oklahoma. International J. Agron. 2016:1-8.