The increase in canola oil use is well documented, but U.S. production has not kept pace with consumption. Luckily, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and canola industry are engaged in supporting research to improve canola productivity and profitability in ways that will lead to expanded production around the country. At a 2017 U.S. Canola Association meeting, NIFA facilitated a half-day workshop showing off USDA and other agency research advancing canola production. The NIFA Supplemental and Alternative Crops Competitive Grants Program has helped canola researchers address needs in all regions across the nation. Work includes testing germplasm and breeding superior performing varieties; developing new commercial products from canola; and innovating new production, harvest and processing methods for production systems that include canola. There is a focus on getting results to commercial users as soon as possible, so NIFA’s involvement with stakeholders in setting priorities, project development and product delivery is required.
USCA Blog
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NIFA Announces Nearly $770,000 for Canola Research
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2017 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the availability of up to $766,000 for fundamental and applied research to help develop and share new commercial canola varieties and products, and expand the crop’s growing regions. This funding is made available through NIFA’s Supplemental and Alternative Crops Competitive (SACC) grants program.
Trump Appointees and Initiatives Debated ‘Ag’ Nauseam
The Administration of President Donald Trump has officially begun and everyone in D.C. is buzzing. The early days suggest it will indeed be a new paradigm – one that is unconventional in style, substance and process. The cabinet is beginning to take shape as the Senate works through the process of confirming nominees – –but no cabinet is complete without the Secretary of Agriculture, currently still vacant. Look for the Senate Agriculture Committee to hold confirmation hearings in the coming weeks for nominee Sonny Perdue. This former Governor of Georgia is making the rounds with Senators to share his vision for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and answer questions. The Senate aims to have him confirmed by the end of February or early March.
Pacific Northwest Canola Growers Association: The Time is Right
Not long after joining the Washington Oilseed Cropping Systems (WOCS) project at Washington State University 10 years ago, I had the good fortune of meeting a farmer in eastern Washington who had been growing canola for more than 20 years. This farmer told me about an effort in the mid-90s – when production was finally gaining some steam – to create a Pacific Northwest (PNW) canola and rapeseed association. However, that effort ‘faded away’after several years. The idea resurfaced five years ago, but again, did not go anywhere. All the while, acreage in the PNW continued an upward trend.
Making a Case for Canola in the Southern Great Plains
During the early 1990s, farmers in Oklahoma, Kansas and four other southern Great Plains states planted more than 32 million acres of wheat annually. Much of it was produced practicing little or no rotation, and with mounting problems due to deliberate monocropping.
A group of university researchers representing these states recognized the dire need for crop diversification and the development of alternative crops. They identified the soft-seeded (minor) oilseeds as promising for the region and zeroed in on canola, which promised the benefit of breaking disease and other pest cycles in wheat. The group formed the Great Plains Canola Council (GPCC) in 1990.
Kansas Producers Expect to Capitalize on Canola
Don’t look now, but more yellow flowers may be popping up across Kansas, and they are not of the sunflower variety, which is the official state flower.
Based on the number of phone calls and emails I received this summer, I fully expect winter canola acres to rebound substantially for the 2017 crop year. Many producers said the price of wheat led them to their decision to plant canola, but I quickly reminded them that there are many benefits to rotating to canola including greater wheat yields, better weed control options and growing consumer demand for the oil.
Policies Emerging on Low-Level Presence of Biotech Crops
As a grain trader would profess, efficient and effective trade is based on the principal of fungibility, allowing for the substitution of grain from source to source as market conditions dictate. Since the introduction of biotech crops, growers and traders have both benefitted from increases in yield and overall productivity, however, the patchwork map of regulatory systems for biotech crops has created significant hurdles in maintaining this fungibility.
Interest in Canola Increases in Willamette Valley
The 2016 canola harvest has all but wrapped up in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and it was another good year – fields averaged 3,000 pounds per acre and one grower exceeded 5,000 pounds per acre. But more importantly, it was another year of successful rotational crops for Willamette Valley farmers.
More Washington State Growers Choose Canola, Seek Advice on Blackleg
Interest in canola as a rotation crop in the cereal-dominated cropping systems of the Pacific Northwest continues to increase, particularly with depressed wheat prices, and with steady demand from the Pacific Coast Canola processing facility in Warden, Wash. The Crucifer Quarantine enacted last fall, however, has prompted many questions and requests for advice about blackleg from growers and industry. In response to concerns, faculty at the Washington State University-based Washington Oilseed Cropping Systems Project developed a handout to distribute at field tours. The guide includes concise information about the current status of blackleg in Washington, the Crucifer Quarantine requirements, scouting for blackleg, and photos of blackleg symptoms from fields in Idaho and Oregon.
No Summer Break for Biodiesel Policy: Industry Argues Time is Now to Expand
While many policy matters are on idle as we enter the heat of summer and this election year, biodiesel policy issues are not slowing down.
On May 27, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the proposed rule for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements, including the volume requirements for biomass-based diesel for 2018 and the total advanced biofuels volumes for 2017 and 2018.