Agricultural News
2013 Canola Crop Remains on the Edge and in Need of a Drink of Water- Josh Bushong of OSU
Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:05:27 CDT
As we approach the first of April, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the 2013 winter canola crop across Oklahoma, southern Kansas and northern Texas. Oklahoma State University Extension Canola Specialist Josh Bushong calls it a "hit or miss" crop as spring weather is starting to push the crop into a growth mode.
Bushong talked with us between class sessions at Canola College held on Thursday in Enid- with close to 300 canola and wheat producers in attendance. There were producers present who have grown canola for a decade- like Jeff Scott, who was helping present an advanced course on working as a repeat canola producer to reach the next level in canola production- shooting for that next ten bushels per acre higher. At the other end of the spectrum were farmers like Rodney Cowan from Blaine County- who has yet to put the first canola seed in the ground on his farm- preferring to stay with wheat and stocker cattle to this point. Cowan told us that it was his first Canola educational event- and he was staring to think more about how canola could be a benefit to him on his farm- especially if it gets too hard to make stocker cattle pencil out.
As for the conditions found here in the spring of 2013- Bushong says that farmers who got some timely rains in the fall and were able to get the 2013 crop established before winter are well ahead of the curve versus the farmers who got little rain last fall and only a moderate amount of establishment. A lot of fields will need rains very soon in order to react postively to warmer temperatures and sunshine. Bushong says that while many fields are in poor shape- and some have already been zeroed out and the producers are getting an insurance check- a lot of fields he was seen in recent days actually are greening up and have good growth potential- if they get moisture.
You can listen to our complete conversation with Josh Bushong that we had Thursday afternoon at the Canola College by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
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