The Canola Council of Canada shared some great tips on scouting in their May 24 Canola Watch Issue. Click here to read the full article or check out the summary below.

Step 1: Count plants and relate that to seeding rate. Scouting and doing plant counts repeatedly through the first few weeks after emergence can help you discover any seedling diseases, flea beetles, frost and other factors that can influence seed survival.

Step 2: Assess seeder performance. Look for missed passes, indications of plugged lines, or depth problems.

Other things you should be looking for:

• Insect damage - remember that flea beetles need to take a bite of the plant before they will die
• Seedling diseases - a telltale sign is patchy emergence up to the 4 leaf stage
• Early blackleg - looking for greyish-white lesions speckled with black pycnidia
• Weeds
• Herbicide damage
• Fertilizer damage - might show seeds that are dried up and powder-like
• Frost - when the days are very warm, even a light frost can hurt your canola
• Residue