Seeding Rates for Winter Canola Production in Ohio.

Winter canola is a potential new crop for Ohio. Seed cost, especially new hybrid varieties, may affect its adoption. It has been hypothesized that seeding rates may be lowered without greatly affecting yields. To test this hypothesis, a public synthetic variety and a private hybrid variety were established at different seeding rates (2 to 6 lb acre^-1) at one or two sites from 2008 – 2012 (Custar and Fremont, OH.).  There were six site years of data. Experimental design was a two-factored randomized block replicated four to six times.  There were no significant interaction between variety and seeding rate so only main effects are reported. Yields were similar among seeding rates for four of the site years (2010 – 2012). Yields were significantly less for the 2 lb acre^-1 seeding rate at both the Custar and Fremont sites in 2009 (p=0.05). The hybrid variety had significantly more yield than the synthetic variety for four out of six site years (p = 0.05). Seeding rates of 4 lb arec^-1 should be adequate for winter canola production in Ohio. Yield reductions may occur for seeding rates of 2 lb acre^-1.