U.S. canola is booming thanks to several factors, including growing crush capacity, healthy food and feed usage, and renewable fuel policy. In 2026, U.S. growers planted about 2.97 million canola acres, a record, up roughly 27% from 2.34 million acres in 2025.
But for growers to capitalize on canola’s economic opportunities during the 2027 growing season, they’ll need your help with sound hybrid selection and a best-in-class toolbox designed to safeguard bushels from field to buyer.
That’s because as canola matures, the outer walls of its seed pods loosen up to later release seeds.1 This ensures the propagation of the plant in nature, but it can make commercial harvesting challenging. Canola is susceptible to seed loss from pod shatter and pod drop compared to crops such as wheat, which keep a firmer grip on seeds.2
Build grower trust by tackling canola’s unique agronomic challenges together
If you can explain the difference between canola pod shatter and pod drop, and place hybrids accordingly, you can move from supplier to adviser in the eyes of your growers. Here’s a quick summary for you as you approach this conversation.
Pod shatter
This happens when a mature canola pod opens along the pod seam. Seeds then fall to the ground. Factors that increase this risk include wind, repeated wet-dry cycles, heat during maturity, drought stress and delayed harvest.
Pod drop
Pod drop is when a pod detaches at the pedicel and falls prior to harvest. Causes can include disease, hail injury, insect feeding, wind damage to weakened tissue and extended field exposure.
How these agronomic issues intersect
Pod shatter and pod drop often occur together, and they can hurt your growers’ yield considerably. For instance, late-season heat might contribute to early pod drop, while a disease such as Verticillium stripe could prematurely ripen the crop. If a single wind event whips up, canola can drop pods and lose seeds from split seams. That lost seed will never reach the bin.
InVigor® versus the competition: How canola hybrid selection mitigates growers’ environmental and weather risks
Your growers can’t control the weather they face in any given growing season. But you can help them choose genetics that will influence how their canola responds to whatever conditions emerge.
InVigor hybrid canola is a patented Pod Shatter Reduction trait technology that is one of a kind in the market. It’s been validated by canola growers for more than a decade.
The full InVigor portfolio features the Pod Shatter Reduction trait, meaning you can confidently guide growers in customizing their canola decisions for maturity, disease package, weed-control system and standability.
With InVigor canola hybrids, growers enjoy several benefits including:
- Harvest flexibility. The trait maintains pod integrity when weather delays growers’ harvest or when field conditions mean harvest windows are longer than they ordinarily would be.
- Delayed swathing and straight cutting where conditions allow. Advise your growers to keep scouting, managing disease and harvesting in a timely way. Pod Shatter Reduction is a risk-management tool, not a cure-all.
Across demonstration and third-party retailer strip trials in 2026 in North Dakota, the leading InVigor entry topped the highest competitive entry at each location. Strong yield outcomes happened despite drought pressure through flowering and pod fill, and multiple wind events at or past harvest maturity. During 2024-25, trials found that InVigor hybrids delivered consistent yield advantages averaging 192 lb./acre to 211 lb./acre over competitive entries across maturity classes.
Planning for the 2027 U.S. canola growing season
Remind growers planning for 2027 that market demand alone isn’t a strategy.
Instead, planting strategy must be informed by a focus on capturing more value from every acre. That happens when growers match hybrids to specific agronomic needs, disease pressures and growing conditions in their fields. InVigor offers a broad portfolio of hybrid solutions to help them do that.
Experts are available to help you guide growers as they make their 2027 canola planting decisions. Reach out to your seed retailer, a nearby extension office agent or a seed company professional like your regional BASF representative.
Endnotes
- Buntin, G. David, et al. “Canola Production in Georgia.” CAES Field Report, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, 9 July 2025,nullhttps://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/B1331/canola-production-in-georgia/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2026.
- Shamim, Mohammad. “Canola Shattering Causes Harvest Losses and Weeds in Double-Crop Soybean.” University of Kentucky, 22 July 2026,nullhttps://graincrops.mgcafe.uky.edu/articles/canola-shattering-causes-harvest-losses-and-weeds-double-crop-soybean. Accessed 17 Sept. 2026.
