Canola: The Crop That Requires Perfect Planning

Melt van der Westhuizen of Moorreesburg holds the South African record for the highest canola yield ever produced. He spoke to Glenneis Kriel about his production methods.

- Glenneis Kriel

Canola is a lucrative rotational crop.

In 2018, seven years after joining his father, Bertus, on their family farm, Klipheuwel, near Moorreesburg in the Western Cape, Melt van der Westhuizen won a prize for the highest canola yield in South Africa.

Ironically, Van der Westhuizen did not suspect that the harvest would be one of his best, let alone a record-breaker. Yet he averaged 3,44t/ ha on the 34ha camp entered into the Protein Research Foundation’s annual canola yield competition.

Melt van der Westhuizen produces wheat, canola and lupines at Klipheuwel near Moorreesburg in the Swartland.

“Our yields had averaged around 2t/ha since we incorporated canola into our wheat rotation system in 2014, but fluctuated greatly from one year to another mainly because of the drought that started in 2015.”

In 2014, Van der Westhuizen harvested a healthy 2,6t/ha, followed by 1,7t/ha during a much drier 2015. Production was up to 2,4t/ha the next year, but fell to just 0,7t/ha in 2017.

“The drought resulted in germination problems across the region. I tried to salvage the situation by planting canola for a second time, but it made no difference, as we were long past the optimal planting window,” he says.

The 2018 harvest did not look to be that promising either, due to wind damage at the end of the season. “I was hoping for an average harvest at best, so was pleasantly surprised when the harvester filled much more quickly than I expected.”

Short-season growers, such as Diamond, flower up to 20 days earlier than long-season cultivars.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING