[Crops 101] How To Sow & Harvest Canola

Welcome to your next “Crops 101” lesson of the Farming Simulator Academy! In this tutorial, we show you how to sow, care for, harvest, and use canola.

What Is Special About Canola?

• Canola uses common field equipment and is harvested with a combine harvester and grain header.
• You can use canola as part of the feed for pigs.
• Place a beehive near your canola field to increase the crop yield.

What You Need For Canola

Canola uses standard field equipment. The machines shown above cover the full growing cycle from soil preparation to harvest.

• Tractor: Operates the tools used for field preparation, sowing, and crop care.
• Cultivator: Prepares the soil before sowing. If the field information says plowing is required, use a plow instead.
• Seeder: Sows canola and needs to be filled with seeds.
• Roller: Optional after sowing for a small additional yield bonus.
• Fertilizer spreader: Applies solid fertilizer and, depending on the model, lime.
• Weeder: Removes small weeds before they grow larger and reduce your yield.
• Harvester with a grain header: Harvests ripe canola.
• Trailer: Transports canola to storage, a selling point, or production.

Let's Get To Work!

With seasonal growth enabled, sow canola in August or September and harvest it in July or August.

Step 1: Applying lime

Check the field information before you begin. If the field needs lime, fill a compatible fertilizer spreader and cover the entire area. If no lime is required, you can skip this step.

Step 2: Cultivating the field

Prepare the soil with a cultivator. Check the field information first: if plowing is required, use a plow instead. If your seeder supports direct seeding, you can skip cultivating altogether.

Need a refresher? See how field preparation works.

Step 3: Sowing canola

Fill the seeder with seeds and select canola as the crop. Lower and activate the machine, then cover the whole field without leaving gaps.

Not sure about seeders? Here's our seeding guide.

Step 4: Rolling the field

Rolling is optional, but it provides a small additional yield bonus. Use a roller directly after sowing and cover the freshly seeded field once.

Want the extra bonus? Learn more about rolling.

Step 5: Fertilizing

Apply fertilizer to improve your yield. You can fertilize twice during one crop cycle, but there must be a growth stage between the two applications. If you used the same spreader for lime, unload it before filling it with fertilizer.

Tip! When using manure or slurry, activate the double application rate if you want to reach full fertilization with one application.

Need more details? Read our fertilizing guide.

Step 6: Removing weeds

Deal with weeds while they are still small. A weeder works during the early stage, while larger weeds require a hoe or herbicide. Removing them early is usually the easiest and cheapest option.

Tip! If crop destruction is enabled, narrow tires help you avoid damaging growing canola while working on the field.

Weeds getting in the way? Here's how to deal with them.

Step 7: Harvesting canola

Once canola is ready to harvest, attach the grain header to your combine harvester. Lower and activate the header, then harvest the field row by row. Unload into a trailer whenever the grain tank fills up.

Tip! A header trailer is optional, but it can make transporting a wide grain header on narrow roads much easier.

Step 8: Selling and using canola

Take your harvested canola where you need it. Sell it at a suitable selling point, store it in a silo, use it as pig feed, or deliver it to an Oil Mill for processing. Check the prices screen before selling if you want to compare the available offers.

Processing Canola: Products

Deliver canola to an oil mill to turn it into canola oil. You can sell the oil directly or use it together with potatoes in another production chain to make potato chips. The overview above shows the available route.

Well Done!

Congratulations! You now know the basics of growing canola in Farming Simulator. When you're ready, continue with the next Farming Simulator Academy lesson!