Researching canola's production cycle.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: TIMISKAMING & REGION

Farmers in the North have begun researching how they can boost grain production to meet upcoming demands.

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"Many of the local association members have said that we have to do some work on canola, because their yields have not been as good recently as they have been in the past, and the value of the crop is dropping, so there's not as much opportunity for profit," says Graham Gambles, professional agrologist with the Temiskaming Shores Soil and Crop Association.

"This mirrors what's been said in other areas as well, such as Nipissing and the Manitoulin."

Research is conducted by the Northeastern Ontario Soil and Crop Association in conjunction with Agrifood Laboratories, Ontario AgriFood Technologies and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. It seeks to determine how to assist the 50 northeastern Ontario canola farmers with their flagging canola production by introducing sulfur into the fertilizer in mid-summer, when the canola is at partial bloom.

Once fully grown, the quality of the yield is then examined and the soil and leaf tissue separated. This will allow researchers to analyze if the sulfur was able to permeate into the canola plant. It can then be determined whether the sulfur had an impact upon growth and yield. Results are to be released to the general public, given the broad spectrum of public and private supporters endorsing the program.

Although initiated in 2005, the project has seen a number of setbacks. Last summer's excessively dry weather prevented the collection of reliable results, while this year found two of the test sites plagued with an onset of flea beetles that devoured the germinating canola. While an early frost destroyed the canola crop at one site and technical problems related to the delivery of sulfur into the soil impeded progress at another site, one farm in Timiskaming was able to evidence the kind of results Gambles had been looking for.

"In September, we found that on this one guy's...