Calculating canola seeding rates

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The time for sowing canola is upon us, making it important to revisit our understanding on seeding rates. Getting this right is critical to ensure we reach our target plant density. It must be mentioned that calculating seeding rates for canola is different to wheat.

You will most likely be receiving canola seed from suppliers in seeds/kilogram e.g. 200,000 seeds/kg. To determine the seeding rate based on this, the formula below assumes plant density and germination is known.

Sowing rate (kg/ha) = (target plant density x 1,000,000) / (seeds/kg x expected germination)

eg.  44Y84 has a seed count of 211,400 seeds/kg.  We want a target plant density of 40plants/m2 and assume 85% of the seeds will germinate.

Thus, the seeding rate = (40 x 1,000,000) / (211,400 x 85)

                                               = 40,000,000 / 17,969,000

                                               = 2.23kg/ha

 

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