Losses from shattering canola can be devastating – but there’s a way to fight back. Pod DefendR-rated canola gives you get durable shatter tolerance in the field, thanks to BrettYoung and our breeding partner, DL Seeds.
Canola Council of Canada: https://www.canolacouncil.org/canola-encyclopedia/harvest-management/
Pod Shatter vs. Pod Drop #
Pod shatter is a natural mechanism for seed dispersion and is influenced by genetics, weather, and the environment. These factors can create conditions for significant pod shatter at maturity, leaving a lot of seed (and profits) on the ground. Pod drop happens when strong winds and drought cause full pods to be ripped off the plant stem.
Pod shatter and pod drop occur when plants are stressed. The Canadian canola industry has a recommended rating scale for pod shatter, but nothing exists to rate a hybrid’s pod drop. Pedicel attachment strength plays an important role in pod drop and is being investigated further.
Screening for Pod Shatter Resistance #
DL Seeds has 2 main tests for evaluating pod shatter resistance:
- In-the-field wind mimicking: DL Seeds’ researchers use high-speed leaf blowers to mimic excess wind on plots for a set amount of time. From there, they give the hybrid a rating from one to nine, with one being poor for pod shatter tolerance and nine being the best. Those numbers coincide with a scale created by the Canola Council of Canada, where a hybrid pod shatter rating of eight is the gold standard for pod shatter tolerance.
- Random impact test: During this test, DL Seeds collects pods off mature canola plants and uses an indoor random impact test machine with an oscillating shaker and ball bearings to see how much impact it takes to shatter the pods. From there, a pod shatter reduction index is given to each hybrid for analysis.
From these tests, hybrids are taken field-scale to learn about growers’ experiences and how the hybrids handled.
Pod DefendR #
With a Pod DefendR-rated hybrid, you can enjoy the flexibility of delayed swathing and straight cutting, meaning you can worry less about suffering pod shatter losses. BrettYoung currently has six products with Pod DefendR-rated shatter tolerance — BY 7206LL, BY 7204LL, BY 7202LL, BY 6223TF, BY 6217TF, and BY 6211TF. Products with the Pod DefendR designation must score a minimum of 7.0 on the Canola Council of Canada’s pod shatter rating scale.
