Managing Cold Stress in Canadian Crops
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Strategies to Protect Yield and Enhance Crop Resilience
Cold stress is a major environmental factor that can negatively impact a plant’s growth and development and jeopardize crop productivity. While seeding at ideal temperatures is the best practice, cool temperatures are often a reality at seeding time for most Canadian farmers.
Cold tolerance, or crop tolerance to cold stress, refers to a plant's ability to survive and grow under cold or suboptimal temperature condition.
What you need to know about cold stress
Here are three things every farmer should know about the impact of cold soil seeding and how to manage the impact of cold stress on crops:
- Plant Stress
Seeding into cold soil is one of the first stresses a crop can encounter. This initial stress can inhibit seed vigor and germination rate, delay crop growth, and decrease crop yield and quality.
- Disease Risk
Cold soil temperatures can increase the vulnerability of seeds to soil pathogens, diseases, and pests. In fact, cold, wet soils following seeding can elevate the risk of disease and root rot. This is particularly true for soil-borne diseases that favour wet soil conditions and cool temperatures, such as Fusarium, Rhizoctonia.
- Productivity Problem
Cold and wet conditions at and after seeding can harm developing seedlings, delay germination and emergence, and reduce stand establishment. Poor germination and uneven emergence caused by cold stress can also lead to staging issues for in-season herbicide and fungicide applications.
Managing Cold Stress
Seeding into cold soil can be a strategic decision for several reasons. It allows farmers to take advantage of the full growing season, avoid in-season pests and diseases at their peak and prevent flowering during the hottest periods of the growing season. That being said, there are also risks to early planting including slow germination, frost damage, soil compaction, and early season seedling diseases. With the help of Biologicals, Canadian farmers can mitigate these risks using the right approach and utilizing products that enhance plant resilience and protect crops from stressors like cold stress.
Cold Stress Solutions
Biological products from Corteva Agriscience, such as Bio-Forge™ Premier and Fortified Stimulate™ Yield Enhancer, are designed to enhance plant resilience and protect yield potential - enabling early planting in cold spring conditions.
Bio-Forge™ Premier helps farmers manage cold stress by providing the plant with additional growth hormones and key nutrients (Cytokinin, Molybdenum, and Colbalt) through foliar application. The addition of key micronutrients such as Molybdenum ensures the plant has the balanced nutrition it needs to metabolize nitrogen and activate root development. This process allows the plant to quickly growth after a cold snap, leading to greater plant productivity and yield potential.
Whether applying to the seed or after emergence, Fortified Stimulate™ Yield Enhancer contains a combination of critical plant growth hormones that are strategically formulated to enhance root development, boost plant growth, and maximize yields. When combating cold stress, this product accelerates plant growth by enhancing root and shoot development and improving plant competitiveness.
Biological crop protection products are useful tools to help combat environmental stressors such as cold stress. To learn more about Corteva’s biological product solutions, contact your local Biological Innovation Manager today.
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