Saskatchewan is one of the world’s largest mustard exporters.

With the cost of crop inputs, today farmers and researchers are always looking for ways to boost production.

Bryan Nybo, the Farm Manager with Wheatland Conservation Area says one of their research trials looked at the response to applying various rates of nitrogen fertilizer in Yellow and Brown Mustard.

“Nitrogen is a very important nutrient when it comes to mustard. It’s the most influential input you have when developing yield and quality of mustard; so, to get the proper nutrient on that crop is critical. As nitrogen response curves change so do your recommendations change when you do soil tests.”

The research trial involved applying various rates of Nitrogen 30,50,70,90 and 110 pounds.

“With the yellow mustards, we found that in the year that we had the real dry year we did see responses. There were gentle responses to nitrogen, just a slow response; they were there but not huge. In the hybrid brown, the newer variety of mustard we saw a really nice steady steep response to nitrogen.”

He notes this was in a dry year, so they anticipate an even greater response in a wet year.

Wheatland’s 2019 trial will compare the nitrogen response of a hybrid brown variety to an open-pollinated centennial brown.

Nybo presented the findings during Cropportunities 2019.