S. A. Ebelhar and F. G. Fernandez

 

Canola was grown in southern IL in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but varieties used back then were not appropriately adapted to the area. As a consequence crop failures were too common for wide-spread adoption. With better adapted varieties available, there is a need to evaluate canola management practices under southern IL climates. Well defined fertilizer recommendations are particularly important to maximize productivity while reducing undesirable, off-site fertilizer movement due to over-application or improper application timings. Our objectives were to: 1) determine the nitrogen (N) uptake response curve for several canola varieties in order to identify the time to apply N in the spring for optimum N utilization; 2) determine the optimum economic N rate for canola and assess the effects of variety selection; 3) evaluate the need for sulfur (S) fertilization with canola; and 4) determine P and K removal by canola varieties to amend tables in the IL Agronomy Handbook for maintenance fertilization.