Agricultural News
Rain Saves Oklahoma Canola Crop, Fewer Acres Left in the Field
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 18:33:07 CDT
The late season rains saved Oklahoma's canola crop. After a dry fall and winter, farmers were concerned it would another disastrous year, like 2014. Great Plains Canola Association Executive Director Ron Sholar said the million dollar rain in May saved the crop and helped all of the fields produce better than expectations.
The record May rainfall turned into too much rain, as farmers began harvesting. There were a lot of delays and there were concerns with shattering, as the crop matured. As usual, he said yields have been all over the board ranging from 1,000 pounds per acre up to 4,000 pounds per acre. Sholar said the canola industry needed a good year after the severe drought took out the crop in 2014, which resulted in fewer acres being planted last fall.
One of the positive aspects of the 2015 canola crop has to be the number of acres harvested. In the past, Sholar said there was a lot of canola left in the field due to bad conditions. He estimates 150 - thousand acres of canola will be harvested this year in Oklahoma. While some acres were lost to winter kill, he expects almost all of those acres planted to be harvested this year.
As of Friday, Sholar said 95 percent of the state's canola crop has been harvested. The remaining five percent of the crop waits to be direct harvested. Most Oklahoma farmers have chosen to swath the crop versus using the direct harvesting method. Sholar said today's varieties are better suited for swathing, but he is confident researchers will continue to work to develop new varieties that will work better for direct harvesting. This will provide farmers with more options and will become another tool in the toolbox.
As canola industry grows in Oklahoma and the Southern Great Plains, Sholar looks for new varieties to be developed specially for the region with winter hardiness. He said that's essential, as canola needs to be able to mimic the benefits of growing wheat.
Southern Plains producers who are interested in learning how to maximize canola crop productivity should plan now to attend one of two regional Winter Canola Conferences taking place in July. Scheduled for July 14 in Enid, Oklahoma, and July 15 in Vernon, Texas, the conferences are being conducted by a number of cooperating partners, including Oklahoma State University, the USDA Risk Management Agency, Kansas State University, Texas A&M University, the Oklahoma Oilseed Commission and the Great Plains Canola Association.
The canola conferences will be about 45 days ahead of fall planting, so the cycle begins again. While growers can't change the weather, Sholar said specialists will address how different varieties performed with the various weather conditions of 2015, along with growing canola in a no-till system, soil fertility and nutrient uptake and canola seed handling and storage. The meeting will also feature a panel featuring experienced canola farmers. Certified crop advisor Continuing Education Units also are available.
The July 14 conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Enid Convention Hall, located downtown at 301 S. Independence Ave. in Enid. A meeting of the Great Plains Canola Association will immediately follow the conference. The July 15 conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Wilbarger County Auditorium in Vernon. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. for both conferences, with sessions starting at 8:50 a.m.
Anyone seeking additional information about the upcoming canola conferences should contact Bushong by email at josh.bushong@okstate.edu or by phone at 405-744-9600, or Sholar by email at jrsholar@aol.com or by phone at 405-780-0113.
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