A highly touted specialty canola that has been promoted as a healthy solution to the trans-fatty acid problem is giving growers heart palpitations.
Producers are reporting high counts of green seed in samples taken from their Nexera canola fields.
Fred Meister, who farms near Radisson, Sask., said most of his early seeded canola made the top grade except for the Nexera he planted, which will likely go No. 3.
“I had a problem with that one variety.”
He’s not alone.
The high-stability canola variety sold by Dow AgroSciences has been a hot topic on Agriville, a web-based forum moderated by Alberta Agriculture.
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In a discussion thread entitled, “Nexera canola the same colour as your John Deere combine,” farmers shared their frustration about harvesting a crop with green counts in the eight to 10 percent range.
Brent Zacharias, Dow’s marketing specialist for canola seed and traits, confirmed there is a problem with the crop in certain geographic regions.
“There are areas where Nexera canola has higher green seed than other varieties in the area.”
He wouldn’t divulge how many acres of the variety were planted this year, but according to the Canola Council of Canada, high oleic lines like Nexera comprise about six percent of the 2004 canola crop.
Damage appears to be concentrated in regions hit hard by frost, but the company is still trying to assess the extent of the problem.
“We really are in a fact-gathering mode right now,” said Zacharias.
He wouldn’t speculate on the cause of the problem but Saskatchewan Agriculture oilseed specialist Bill Greuel thinks it is related to genetics, not the unique fatty acid profile of the crop.
Some varieties are more susceptible to frost. A decade ago growers encountered a similar problem with a variety called Cyclone.
“I suspect that is the same thing that is going on here,” said Greuel.
Nexera has been heavily promoted by Dow as a specialty canola that delivers similar returns as herbicide tolerant canola systems under high weed pressure situations, and superior profits under normal circumstances.
The company is able to offer price premiums for the product due to the demand for high stability oils that don’t need to be partially hydrogenated to extend their shelf life.
Hydrogenation raises the level of undesirable trans-fats in snack foods. Trans-fats have been linked with increases in heart disease.
In marketing literature intended for growers, the company talked about Nexera’s strong canola genetics that deliver agronomic performance competitive with elite open pollinated commodity canolas.
But growers could be facing significant discounts as their crops slide down the grading chart. According to the Canadian Grain Commission, samples containing more than six percent green seed do not qualify for the top two grades of canola.
