By Luis Del Rio Mendoza, Ph.D.
Through a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, North Dakota State University (NDSU) worked on improving spring canola varieties and conducted agronomic research on the crop. Nitrogen applications and clubroot management were examined. Read More »
By Kurtis Schroeder, Ph.D.
Crop options are limited in the wheat-dominated dryland areas of the inland Pacific Northwest (PNW) and few rotation crops return a profit similar to winter wheat. However, canola is adapted to the PNW and both spring and winter canola can be grown profitably in the region. Canola adds several benefits in rotation with cereal crops, including reduced plant disease, additional weed control and management options, and in the case of winter canola, increased water infiltration. As a result, a multistate project in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana is being funded by a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The goals are to develop regionally adapted canola cultivars and advance agronomic practices to optimize canola performance, thereby increasing regional canola acreage.
By Mike Stamm
Developing and evaluating high-yielding and regionally adapted winter canola cultivars, improving canola cropping systems, and delivering new technologies and practices to growers are priorities of the project “Development and Management of Canola in the Great Plains Region” supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). It includes researchers in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska and New Mexico. Read More »
By Carol J. Burns, MPH, PhD and Daland R. Juberg, PhD
Cancer affects about 20 million people globally, accounting for one in six deaths (World Health Organization 2020). As we age, our individual risk of acquiring cancer increases. Farmers are no exception despite having lower cancer rates overall than the general population (Agricultural Health Study and AGRICAN). Read More »
By Angela Dansby
Ever wonder how canola oil stacks up against other edible oils? In honor of National Nutrition Month and March Madness, let’s size up the “competition,” starting with the weak challengers:
Coconut oil: Often erroneously touted for so-called health benefits, this high saturated fat (87%!) contender is solid at room temperature. That’s a good indication of what it will do to your arteries! This is why the U.S. government recommends cooking with liquid vegetable oils like canola in place of solid fats such as coconut oil, butter, shortening or lard. Read More »
By Tom Hance
President Biden comes into office with an immediate focus on managing the COVID-19 pandemic and enacting response and relief measures to mitigate its impacts. Some aspects can be achieved through executive orders, while others – such as providing additional assistance to individuals and hard-hit entities – will require legislative action by Congress, which is an uncertain proposition. Aside from managing the pandemic, Biden’s focus will be on restoring stability (both domestically and with trade and foreign affairs), enacting a major infrastructure initiative (which dovetails into coronavirus response and recovery), and addressing climate change on numerous fronts. What does this mean for agriculture and canola? Read More »
By Angela Dansby
“Marty, whatever happens, don’t ever go to 2020,” read a WhatApp joke in reference to the movie “Back to the Future.”
No lie. This year was one most of us would like to forget. But there are some good news stories worth remembering. For example, Farm Rescue recently came to the rescue of a North Dakota farmer hospitalized with COVID-19. Read More »
By Mike Stamm, M.S.
Developing and evaluating high-yielding and regionally adapted winter canola cultivars, improving canola cropping systems, and delivering new technologies and practices to growers are NIFA project priorities in the Great Plains. This project includes the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska and New Mexico. Read More »
By Angela Dansby
Approaches to food security by the United States and Europe are similar short-term but very different long-term as revealed in an online 
panel discussion July 29, 2020, organized by the European Conservatives and Reformists Party. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, EU Commissioner of Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, members of the European Parliament Anna Fotyga and Hermann Tertsch, and U.S. journalist Jon Entine faced off on environmental, social and economic aspects of farming and food security. Read More »
Interview with Channapatna S. (“CS”) Prakash, Ph.D., dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama, USA and co-editor-in-chief of the journal GM Crops & Food, Interview by Angela Dansby
In layman’s terms, how would you describe gene editing?
Gene editing is about rearranging the language of life in living organisms such as canola. You can think of it like editing text on your smartphone. Gene editing is done using enzymes to make small changes in the genetic language, rearranging building blocks of DNA called bases. There are billions of bases in every cell of canola plants. Changing just a few can bring about desirable changes such as a healthier oil. DNA consists of four bases called ATGC. How these letters are arranged determines how genes are expressed. Read More »