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Will Canola Oil Use Take Off With New EPA Approval?

By J. Alan Weber

The second half of 2022 provided U.S. canola producers quite a bit of optimism regarding new demand opportunities in the biofuels market. It began with the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge, a government-wide effort to reach 3 billion gallons per year of domestically produced renewable jet production with at least a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. Then, on Dec. 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final determination that canola oil-based renewable diesel, SAF, naphtha, heating oil, and liquified petroleum gas (propane) met the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction requirement of at least 50 percent under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to qualify as advanced biofuels. In fact, the EPA final rule conservatively estimated a reduction of 67 percent for canola renewable diesel compared to petroleum-based diesel and similar reductions for the other biofuels. Read More »

FY2023 Agriculture Appropriations Favorable to Canola

By Tom Hance

They took it right up until Christmas Eve, but Congress passed an omnibus appropriations package to fund government programs for fiscal year 2023. The package totals $1.7 trillion with $858 billion in defense funding, including $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine and NATO allies, and $772.5 billion for non-defense discretionary programs. For agriculture, the bill includes discretionary funding of $25.48 billion. The Continuing Resolution (CR), which keeps the government operating at FY2022 levels, was set to expire Dec. 23 so the new appropriations package came just in the (saint) nick of time! Following are provisions of interest to the canola sector:

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EPA Fuels Debate on Renewable Fuel Standard Volumes

Tom Hance, Gordley AssociatesBy Tom Hance

On Dec. 1, 2022, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rule for Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) pathways for canola oil-based renewable diesel and related biofuels, it also issued a proposed rule for Required Volume Obligations (RVOs) for 2023-25. While biomass-based diesel (BBD) RFS volumes have largely been at the EPA’s discretion, this is the first time the agency has control of all RFS volumes and will set them for three years forward. Up to 2022, RFS volumes were set by legislative statute and implemented annually by the EPA.  Read More »

Record U.S. Canola Production in 2022

By Angela Dansby and Dale Thorenson

U.S. canola had record production this year, up a whopping 45 percent from 2021, according to the Oct. 12 crop report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Nearly 2.2 million acres were harvested with an average yield of 1,826 pounds per acre, resulting in 3.95 billion pounds of canola.

Looking back 30 years at NASS records, U.S. canola production has grown in spite of ebbs and flows, increasing more than 95 percent from 191 million pounds to nearly 4 billion. Yield has been erratic with several big dips (2002, 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2021) influenced by Mother Nature, however, production well outpaced yields during those years. More importantly, canola genetic traits have continued to improve, largely driving the 500-pound/acre increase since 1991, when yield was only 1,300 pounds per acre. Read More »

End of a Canola Era at University of Idaho

By Jack Brown, Ph.D.

The University of Idaho (UI) oilseed research group has a long history of agronomic research. It started developing canola cultivars before the crop was approved as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Association in 1985. Read More »

Gene Editing Brings New Canola Traits

By Jim Radtke, Ph.D.

Plant breeding has driven the development of canola as an edible oilseed crop. In the 1960s, Canadian breeders took an industrial oilseed crop called rapeseed and selected for an edible oil profile, significantly reducing erucic acid to create “Canadian oil low acid” (canola) with excellent edible oil quality. But they were not done. Further advancements were made to change the crop into high yielding hybrids and the use of biotechnology (integrating foreign DNA) added resistance to herbicides, allowing for better weed control and crop management. Read More »

Weed Control in Canola: Can we Keep up with Weeds?

By Brian Jenks, Ph.D.

It’s now been 24 years since herbicide-tolerant canola was first approved in the United States. The ability to control weeds in canola with post-emergence broadleaf herbicides revolutionized canola production. Prior to 1998, soil-applied herbicides Treflan® and Sonalan® were able to provide decent control for many weeds; however, many canola fields struggled to compete with tough weeds like kochia. With no post-emergence herbicide options other than Stinger®, growers had to save canola for their cleanest fields and hope the crop would outcompete the weeds. Read More »

Straight-Combining vs. Swathing Canola

By Anitha Chirumamilla, Ph.D., and Hans Kandel, Ph.D.

Producers traditionally have swathed rather than straight-combined canola. In recent years, the availability of new pod shatter-resistant varieties has made straight cutting the new trend for canola harvesting. However, both swathing and straight combining have their places based on harvest conditions. Timely straight cutting can save time and money and result in improved canola yields and seed quality (lower harvest moisture, less green seed and higher test weight). Heavier canola stands are better suited for straight combining than thinner stands because of the decreased likelihood of shattering from wind. In the absence of pod shatter tolerance, straight combining has resulted in yield losses of 8 to 54 percent, as reported by the Canola Production Center in Canada. Read More »

Clubroot Incidence and Management in Canola

By Venkata Chapara, Ph.D.

Clubroot disease on canola is caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae, a soil-borne pathogen that moves from field to field on both agricultural and non-agricultural equipment. In simple words, it moves from whatever moves the soil. With an objective to determine the extent of disease spread in North Dakota, clubroot incidence and prevalence has been monitored in annual surveys for six years by examining canola roots for clubs/galls. These surveys have been funded by the Northern Canola Growers Association, Northern Canola Research Program (USDA/NIFA), SBARE and NDCP Product Harmonization Board. Read More »

Productivity Doesn’t Define Your Worth

By Lesley Kelly, farmer and co-founder of the Do More Agriculture Foundation

Although our societal and cultural norms focus on to-do lists and being busy equates to being productive and provides happiness, this assumption can lead to devastating impacts on our mental health and self-worth.

We’ve learned over time that through hard work, our productivity is associated with who we are, a key factor of what drives our success on the farm and even acceptance. As part of running a successful operation, productivity needs to be a priority. But it shouldn’t be the only priority. In fact, if you google “agriculture” and “productivity,” what comes out of the search is economics, growth, technology, sustainability but nothing to the effects of the person driving the productivity – the farmer. Read More »