b"CANOLA AGRONOMYDoes Wider Canola Row Spacing Optimize Returns Or Risk Consequences? Seeding canola wide can impact everything from seed cost to weed management to disease potential,but what spacing offers the best reward and least risk? TYPICAL ROW SPACINGin most commercial canola fields varies from seven to 12 inches. Thats higher than the six-to-eight-inch spacing used in canolas earliest years, and much more precise thanks to todays seeding technology. Given new research findings and increasing agronomic understanding, is seven to 12 inches the very best option? Could a specific spacing inside that range offer maximum yield or quality benefit, or could going wider, say 15 inches or even 18, save seed while optimizing disease management? Both wider and narrower row spacing deliver benefits most farmers are familiar with. Dragging fewer openers through the ground requires less horsepower and less fuelan attractive upside. Extra inches between rows can make seeding smoother in wet, high-residue fields, it can alsoalongside no-till or reduced-tillageconserve moisture in dry fields. Narrower spacing allows the crop maximum access to resources including light, nutrients and moisture and supports mid-row fertilizer banding. Narrower rows can, under certain growth conditions, simplify management through more consistent crop staging when compared to the more branched plants in wider spacing. The single biggest downside of wider row spacing is that the crop is less competitive against weeds, says Kelly Turkington, a crop pathologist at Agriculture and Agri-food Canadas Lacombe Research and Development Centre. Thats a major concern, especially given increasing incidence of glyphosate resistant kochia and other herbicide resistant weeds. As a consequence of a non-competitive crop canopy, your focus in terms of weed management is essentially almost solely based on the herbicide technology that you're using. And the more reliance you have on herbicides, the more frequently you use them within and between growing seasons, the greater the risk for development of pesticide resistance, he explains.Impacts on DiseaseA close up of flowering canola plants at a canola field located in central Alberta. PHOTO: ASHLEY ROBINSON One of the key reasons some might consider wider row spacing is the assumption that it should increase drying within the crop 52seed.ab.ca"