Will Canola Compete With Soybeans for Acreage?
Canola refers to a group of rapeseed cultivars that were genetically modified through traditional, non-GMO breeding methods to have low levels of glucosinolates [<30 micromoles] and erucic acid [<2%]. The term canola is a combination of “Canadian” and “oil” [or ola] to distinguish it from rapeseed. Go to Growing canola for oilseed or cover crop use [Univ. of Missouri], Canola Production [North Dakota State Univ.], and Canola production handbook [Kansas State Univ. in cooperation with other U.S. universities] to access guidelines for producing the crop as both a cover crop and a cash crop.
According to NASS, harvested acres and yields of canola averaged 2.09 million and 1,700 lb./acre from 2020 through 2023 in the U.S. During this same 4-year period, soybean harvested acres averaged 84.36 million and yielded an average 50.7 bu/acre. Thus, U.S. average canola acreage was only 2.5% as much as average soybean acreage during this 4-year period.
North Dakota had an estimated 1.915 million acres of canola in 2023, the most of any U.S. state. Montana and Washington had an estimated 160 and 163 thousand acres, respectively. Together these three northern U.S. states had over 96% of the nation’s total harvested canola acres in 2023.
Unlike soybeans, canola has no national checkoff. The U.S. Canola Association thus does not fund research directly, but does advocate for a National Canola Research Program that provides grants from the NIFA/USDA. The recipients of these grants have been North Dakota State Univ., Kansas State Univ., and the Univ. of Idaho [shared with other universities in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S.].
The below links are to articles that provide insight into why U.S. canola acres may increase, and where such increases are likely to occur if that happens.
American Farmer’s Next Hot Commodity is Canola for Biofuels [Energy Connects].
• Oil from canola seeds produces a shelf-stable cooking fat, but may soon be considered a desirable feedstock for the growing production of biofuel that is produced for the heavy transportation sector that includes trucking, rail, and marine conveyances.
• Canola seeds contain over twice as much oil as soybean seeds. Thus, they could be an excellent feedstock for biofuel production.
• The vast majority of canola that is presently grown is spring canola in the northern U.S. and Canada. This crop is planted in the spring and harvested around September.
• Chevron Corp., Bunge Global SA, and Corteva Inc. have established a joint pilot program that encourages farmers in several states to plant winter canola. Plantings in the fall of 2024 are expected to increase dramatically [but still occupy a very small acreage].
• Producers who have grown canola tout its side benefits of improving soil health, suppressing weeds, and boosting yields of following crops.
• Canola grown as a winter crop in the southern U.S. may work best on land that is to be fallowed during the summer months since its harvest will necessarily dictate ultra-late planting of corn, cotton, and soybeans on canola acres in the region.
Why farmers are swapping some soybeans for canola [FarmProgress/DakotaFarmer].
• Growers in the upper Midwestern U.S. have found that canola as an alternative crop to some soybean acres makes sense because of 1) a September vs. October harvest, and 2) its need for minimal inputs.
• Canola can use the same planting and harvesting machinery as that used for soybeans.
Growers see new life for canola in U.S. South [The Western Producer].
• Winter canola is viewed by some southern farmers as an alternative crop to wheat in the southern U.S. since it can be used as a feedstock for renewable diesel [RD] production
• Corteva’s role in the partnership mentioned above is to produce winter canola hybrids that are suited for the southern U.S.
• Present canola acreage in the southern U.S. is so small that USDA does not collect or publish acreage statistics for states in that region.
• The limitation to canola production in the south has generally been market-related and not production- related.
• Winter canola in a doublecrop [DC] production system with soybeans as the summer crop provides two crops that can be used as feedstock for RD production.
• Winter canola is a non-host for some major soybean pests such as SCN.
The above narrative indicates that spring canola is well-adapted to being grown in the upper midwestern U.S., and may replace some soybean acres in that region. Current information also indicates that winter canola may replace some wheat acres in the southern U.S. where doublecropping is a major production system. However, this will not likely impact Midsouth soybean acreage since there is little doublecropping in the region.
Only an economic analysis of a DC system that uses canola as the winter crop compared to soybeans grown as a monocrop in the ESPS will determine if replacing wheat with canola in a DC system will improve overall economic returns and be more profitable than growing soybeans as a monocrop in the ESPS. Also, any increase in U.S. canola acreage will likely depend on whether or not RD continues to be considered a significant source of biofuel in future years.
Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Aug. 2024, larryh91746@gmail.com