Agricultural News
Economics of Canola Mean Bigger Slices of a Bigger Pie for Everybody, Jones Says
Mon, 22 Jul 2013 18:23:39 CDT
The economics of winter canola production are looking really good across the Southern Plains, according to Dr. Rodney Jones. He was recently named the Oklahoma Farm Credit Endowed Professor of Agrifinance at Oklahoma State University. Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays spoke with Jones at the recent winter canola workshop in Enid.
Jones said that producers have learned a lot over the last eight to ten years as they have worked to get canola introduced in the state.
"We have learned over the last eight years that the economics of this crop in a rotation, in a wheat-canola rotation or even a more intensive crop rotation, canola in our crop rotation in this part of Oklahoma works very well from an economic standpoint. We've seen time after time after where folks have been able to harvest yields that are comparable on a bushel-per-acre basis to wheat. Just take 2013 for example, we're selling canola for $12 a bushel and some of them are selling wheat for $7 a bushel."
Jones said although the operating costs may be from $40 to $60 per acre higher than wheat, the rewards in terms of higher per-bushel prices and the value of the rotation impact make the economic returns very attractive.
To tenant farmers considering trying to incorporate canola into their cropping plans, Jones said some attention needs to be paid to an equitable sharing of costs with landlords.
"Through some communication, through just sitting down with a pencil and paper or a spreadsheet and crunching the numbers, we can figure out an equitable arrangement that makes both parties better off. It is, actually, an example of a situation where we can expand the pie and we need to figure out how to divide that pie up equitably and everybody can have a bigger piece of the pie than they can in just a continuous crop wheat cropping system."
You can hear Ron Hays's full conversation with Rodney Jones by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
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