Poor weather, prices Growers are turning to other crops, putting an Oklahoma crushing plant on hold
Winter canola acres in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas will decline this year, following a disappointing crop in 2013-14.
The canola industry in the Great Plains is going through a period of uncertainty after several years of expansion and talk of one million acres.
A proposed canola crushing plant in Enid, Okla., is now on hold, and some growers are backing away from the crop.
Bob Schrock, a canola grower from Kiowa, Kansas, near the Oklahoma border, said acreage in the southern Great Plains will be down from last year, when farmers planted 340,000 acres of canola.
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“Instead of 1,000 acres, they (growers) may be planting 500,” Schrock said.
Acreage estimates will likely be released in a few weeks, he added.
Schrock said farmers seeded less canola this fall partly because yields were horrible in the spring. Winter was much colder and drier than usual, winterkill was commonplace and many crops were a write-off.
Canola prices have also dropped. A crushing plant in Oklahoma was paying $8.24 per bushel Oct. 29, down from recent years when canola was selling for $10 to $13 per bu.
Heath Sanders, a field specialist with the Great Plains Canola Association, said dry conditions in September also curbed acres.
Farmers in Oklahoma normally seed canola in the last two weeks of September, but it didn’t rain from Sept. 1 to Oct. 10.
“We had guys that had their seed lined up and were going to plant,” Sanders said. “They kept waiting and waiting and some of those farmers dusted the crop in … and some guys backed off.”
Northstar Agri-Industries an-nounced plans two years ago to build a canola crushing plant in Enid. A company spokesperson told the Enid News in September that the 2,200 ton per day facility is shovel ready, but Northstar won’t invest $250 million until the time is right.
“We’re no less committed to the project. We just want to make sure we get out on the right foot with such a large expenditure,” said Northstar president Neil Juhnke.
“We need to see there’s going to be the acres there to support the plant.”
Sanders said the canola crop is in good shape going into the winter, and Oklahoma farmers might feel more optimistic about the crop if the area receives rain and avoids another brutal winter.
“We really need a good crop here. There’s nothing that will lift sprits like a good crop.”
