Canola growers in parts of Oklahoma and southern Kansas are suffering through another dry and challenging year, which is cutting into optimism for the crop.
Tyson Good, who farms near Dodge City, Kansas, said his canola grew to knee height in the fall, and an abrupt change in the weather hammered the crop.
“It went from 88 degrees to near zero degrees Fahrenheit (31 C to -17 C) in 24 hours,” he said. “It was elongating and pushed my growth point too high…. We got a hard freeze on it, and it just knocked it down.”
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Heath Sanders, field specialist with the Great Plains Canola Association, said most canola fields were in decent shape going into winter, but the sudden cold changed everything.
“We had really good stands … (but) the crop didn’t have much time to acclimate to the cold weather, and we lost some plants.”
A lack of rain in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas this winter exacerbated the situation. The crop hasn’t received the necessary moisture to recover from the earlier damage, Sanders said.
The crop is beginning to bloom in parts of the region, and growers could be looking at their second consecutive year of poor yields unless conditions turn around quickly.
The winter of 2013-14 was much colder and drier than usual and winterkill was commonplace. Memories of poor or non-existent yields, combined with dry seeding conditions last fall, diminished grower enthusiasm and cut into seeded acreage.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said March 31 that Oklahoma farmers planted 145,000 acres of canola this year, down from 270,000 acres in 2013-14. Farmers in the region, including Texas and Kansas, planted about 225,000 acres this year.
The acreage decline is having a detrimental impact on the development of the canola industry in Oklahoma.
Canola advocates expected acres to hit one million, and Northstar Agri-Industries announced plans to build a crushing plant in Enid. A company spokeperson told the Enid News last fall that the 2,200 ton per day facility is shovel ready. However, Northstar won’t invest the required $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 canola growers are getting a “little discouraged.”
“It’s not been the canola’s fault. It’s been the weather conditions.”
Sanders said there’s been decent precipitation in southern Oklahoma and northern Texas. Canola fields in that region look quite good.
It’s too early to write off the crop in areas suffering through a drought, he added. “In a couple of weeks, if it were to rain, things would really change in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas.”
robert.arnason@producer.com
