K-State Ag Today: Canola an option for wheat growers
10:53 a.m. Thursday, July 31, 2008
Winter wheat growers looking for a change of pace might consider one of the fastest-growing oilseed crops: canola. K-State Research and Extension canola specialist Mike Stamm says the marketing opportunities for Kansas canola have improved.
"We did struggle to have delivery points for producers in Kansas, but that is something that has improved over the last three years; now, there is a crushing facility in Oklahoma City that is contracting with delivery points in both Oklahoma and in Kansas. A crusher in Oklahoma City is offering canola contracts for 2009 production at 25 cents per pound, or $12.50 a bushel."
Canola photo courtesy Kansas State University
The same equipment that's used for winter wheat production, can also be used for canola production. Stamm says there's another potential benefit for wheat producers.
"If you grow wheat continuously, you tend to build up disease, weed and insect pressures, and if you use crop rotation, it makes a lot of common sense because winter canola will help you break those insect, weed and disease cycles in winter wheat production. Canola is a broadleaf, and winter wheat is a grass, and so your modes of action are different."
You can find more information at your local extension office, or on our web site, at www.kstateagtoday.org.
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