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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 »

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 »

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 »

Canola at its Best in the Pacific Northwest

By Angela Dansby

For the first time in history, the U.S. Canola Association (USCA) held a meeting in the Pacific Northwest (Spokane, Wash.) as a testament to the fact that canola is now a regional crop. About 233,000 acres, representing 12 percent of national acreage, was grown in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon in 2018. That’s enough to supply a whopping 40 percent of the full-capacity Viterra crushing facility in Warden, Wash.

“The Pacific Northwest will plant more spring canola and new growers in the region are increasing,” says PNW Canola Association Executive Director Karen Sowers. “The production per acre has gone up due to better genetics and grower management.” Read More »

Glyphosate Safety: Facts vs. Fiction

On Feb. 25, 2019, the first case in the federal multidistrict litigation In re Roundup Products Liability Litigation (MDL) before Judge Vince Chhabria went to trial in San Francisco. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in most Roundup® brand herbicides and other weed-control products.

Glyphosate, given its effectiveness and wide adaptation, is one of the most studied herbicides in the world. An extensive body of research on it and glyphosate-based herbicides, including more than 800 studies over several decades, 40 years of real world experience and conclusions of regulators and international agencies around the world support the safety of these products when used as directed.

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No Evidence of Canola Oil Link to Alzheimer’s Disease in Humans

NO EVIDENCE OF CANOLA OIL’S LINK TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE IN HUMANS
Small Study in Mice Does Not Negate Oil’s Safety and Healthfulness

WASHINGTON, DC — Independent scientists assure consumers that they can “forget” about misleading reports originating from a Dec. 7 study on canola oil and Alzheimer’s disease by Temple University researchers as the data do not support negative claims about the oil. The links between canola oil and weight gain, worsened memory and dementia in humans suggested by this 22-mouse study are unfounded, notes the non-profit U.S. Canola Association. Here’s why:

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Canola Oil Study Does Not Prove Alzheimer’s Disease

The U.S. Canola Association cautions consumers about the misinterpretation of results in the study, “Effect of canola oil consumption on memory, synapse and neuropathology in the triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease,” by Elisabetta Lauretti and Dominico Pratico at Temple University. It was published Dec. 7 in Scientific Reports – an online, open access journal.

The study was conducted using a mouse model; it was not a human clinical trial. Specifically, mice were genetically engineered to develop three characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease (AD): memory impairment, amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.

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Canola Research in North Dakota Grows Strong

The Northern Canola Growers Association (NCGA) has been hard at work over the past few years to expand research and initiatives supporting canola in the Northern Plains. It allocates a significant portion of its funds to public research in canola in areas of highest importance to growers.

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