Reasons To Grow Winter Canola To Complement Your Crop Rotations

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Yes, you can incorporate winter canola into your crop rotation program.

Here's how.

There are a lot of benefits to overwintering your fields with cover crops. Crops like winter wheat or cereal rye provide essential erosion control, trap nutrients in the soil, suppress weeds, boost soil health, and improve overall yields.

So where does winter canola fit in the mix? If you’re already overwintering with wheat or another cover crop, we’ll show you why you should consider adding canola to your rotation.

Think winter canola and winter wheat (not or)

Yield gains from rotating canola and winter wheat with a corn - soybean rotation

A winter crop rotation alternating between winter wheat and winter canola.

Incorporating winter canola into a rotation is easy because it fits right into current cropping systems. It can be planted in rotation with winter wheat or other double-cropping systems every two to three years and follows traditional timing used for winter wheat crop rotations.

How to manage winter canola

Close-up of brown canola in the field.

In comparison to winter wheat, winter canola:

Is a bit more sensitive to soil pH.
Does not tolerate soggy fields or water-logged soil.
Is sensitive to herbicides typically used in wheat production (so sprayers used in wheat need to be cleaned and rinsed before using with canola).
Needs slightly higher nitrogen and sulfur.
Has a growth point above ground.

No new equipment necessary

Green equipment harvests grain in a field of canola

You won’t need new or different equipment to plant and harvest winter canola. You can use traditional wheat, corn, and soybean planting and harvest equipment with minimal retrofits

Winter canola improves farm profitability

An aerial view of a double-cropped farm and grain bins

Based on actual on-farm results, winter canola yields average 43–60 bu/A. Thanks to rising demand for renewable fuel stocks, the Winter Canola Program gives farmers the potential to increase income per acre compared to alternative crops.

Winter canola provides in-field benefits

A golden field of winter canola in bloom

Including winter canola in a crop rotation offers farmers other benefits as well:

You can plant spring crops sooner, since canola matures earlier than wheat.
It’s easier to no-till plant your summer crop because winter canola leaves less residue in the field than winter wheat.

Tap into a promising new market

An open hand holding a winter canola seed pod with seeds coming out

Thanks to the Winter Canola Program, farmers can confidently grow canola knowing their entire harvest will be purchased. A joint venture between Pioneer and Bunge Chevron Ag Renewables, the Winter Canola Program connects farmers to the rising market demand for renewable fuel feedstocks.