Production
Planting of canola in the United States first began in 1988 after being introduced in Canada in 1974. The charts below show dramatic increases in U.S. acreage and yield since 1991, growing to more than 2 million acres per year. Yet growth in production has not kept up with demand as the United States still imports 69 percent of its canola oil for domestic consumption.
U.S. canola had record harvested acres in 2024 at 2.7 million+, up 15% from 2023, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Harvested acreage and production increased in all major canola-producing states except Washington and Montana, respectively.
While North Dakota currently grows the lion’s share of U.S. canola, states in the Pacific Northwest, Southern Great Plains and mid-South are increasing acreage. Not only does canola provide high-value canola oil and meal, it benefits other crops like wheat in rotation by breaking up pest and disease cycles as well as provides ideal habitat for pollinators.
Global canola/rapeseed production is estimated at 70 million tonnes with the majority (roughly 20 million acres annually) grown in Canada and a significant amount in Europe (about 97 percent of “rapeseed” grown there is canola quality). Thanks to agricultural technologies, yields of canola/rapeseed have improved dramatically around the world since 1961!
U.S. Canola Yield/Total Production 1991-2019
U.S. Canola Oil Use-Production
