Agricultural News
Dewey County Farmer Says Canola Results Far Outpaced Expectations
Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:02:59 CDT
Many farmers across the state are making final preparations to begin sowing winter canola, some for the first time. Jimmy Emmons from Leedey, Oklahoma, has a head start and has been planting canola for the past four seasons.
He spoke with farm director Ron Hays about his experiences using Dekalb products and says he's been very pleased with the company and its products.
"It has performed very well for us. The first year that we raised canola we planted 4715 and we had a 40-bushel yield, which is exceptional the first year out. And this year was our fourth year and we had 4410 out that yielded 37 bushels in the worst drought we've had since the Dust Bowl era, so we've been very, very pleased its performance.
"We've been very pleased with Dekalb overall. They've been in business for many years and so they have a lot of history. The canola germ plasm and the seed dealer network has just performed very well for us overall."
Emmons says putting canola in his rotation has brought a number of benefits to his operation and the whole process has far exceeded his expectations.
"We've been really excited about that. We were told early on we could expect a ten to 15 to maybe 20 percent yield boost behind canola with winter wheat. The first year we experienced a 25 percent boost in yield and last year behind the big drought that we had, we experienced doubled wheat yields behind canola. And this year, our yields were in the 60-bushel range behind canola and right beside it with wheat on wheat, we were at 37. So we've just been overly pleased with the performance."
He said the benefits have been multi-faceted from the Round-Up ready knocking out competition to deep tap root taking fertilizer from the deep zones and bringing it back toward the top. "The rotational process with canola, for us, is working very well."
Emmons says the high yields they've experienced and the high prices for canola have them discussing accelerating their rotation plans, and says they will have one-fourth to one-third of their acres in canola this year.
When Emmons first launched into canola, his neighbors weren't quite sure what to think, but they have now seen the benefits and are eager to give it a try themselves.
"Early on when we started there was a lot of skepticism. They didn't know if it would work. After this last year I've got four or five neighbors wanting to plant this fall. We've seen the acres have just really grown. And a lot of that's due to Dekalb products we've been planting out in this area have shown great yield potential. And the markets have been very favorable for us. People are really getting excited not only about the rotational process but also the cash benefit bonus that we're seeing on the canola. We're looking here in Dewey County at the acres being way up again this year."
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear the full conversation between Jimmy Emmons and Ron Hays.
Click here for more information on Dekalb winter canola products.
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