Description
Canola growers across Western Canada faced a rollercoaster growing season marked by relentless rain in parts of Alberta, mid-summer heat and drought across the brown soil zone, and mounting disease pressure through the black soil zone.
Despite weekly agronomist yield estimates trending downward all season, Jay Whetter, manager of knowledge and technology transfer with the Canola Council of Canada, says that post-harvest feedback from farmers has largely settled around average to better-than-expected yields.
Now, those field-level challenges are shaping the discussion for Canola Week 2026, scheduled for November 24 to 26 at Hotel Arts in Calgary, Alta.
“Often the content reflects what happened in the year and... we want to use that time at Canola Week to dig into some of the emerging threats to canola production... what happened this year, what do we expect to happen in the near future,” says Whetter.
Abiotic stresses, climate variability, and fast-moving pests headline the agenda. Cabbage seedpod weevil has rapidly expanded eastward from southern Alberta into Saskatchewan and Manitoba, while Verticillium stripe continues to advance westward.
Opening sessions will tackle overarching prairie yield trends and feature an in-person presentation from Virginia Tech researcher Yixing Zheng on a Saskatchewan-focused yield gap analysis. Later blocks will dive into pest dynamics, current field trials, and critical research needs.
“...One of the other objectives of Canola Week is not only just to bring us up to speed on where we are, provide some research updates, but also kind of define where the research gaps are,” says Whetter.
Beyond the field trial data, delegates will celebrate Dr. Keith Downey—one of the pioneering fathers of canola—ahead of his 100th birthday.
Whether pulling up a chair in Calgary or logging in from the combine cab, growers and agronomists can track down the complete program and registration details at canolacouncil.org.
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