Gunnar B Dinkla

My research pertains to investigating the suitability of winter canola to improve the sustainability of Iowa cropping systems. I am assessing winter canola's ability to produce adequate fall growth, winter survivability, and yield to compete with a typical Iowa crop rotation of corn and soybeans. The main focus of my research is incorporating winter canola into the rotation by interseeding into growing soybeans in the early fall at different stages of soybean leaf senescence. Winter canola is typically grown in the southern great plains of the United States, but has shown the ability to over-winter in in Iowa's climate. Dr. Wiedenhoeft and I are also partnering with Kansas State University to participate in the National Winter Canola Variety Trial to assess varieital differences in fall stand, winter survivability, plant height, yield, oil analyis and more in different regions of the country. The NWCVT is used by researchers, agronomists, and producers to supply information in decision making for their winter canola project/crop.