Canola Field Trials

In September of 2007, Post Oak RC&D was awarded a Conservation Innovation Grant funded through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) to conduct field trials over the next three years testing 21 varieties of canola, mustard, rape and radish.

Allen Smith, Post Oak RC&D coordinator, explained, “Over the three-year grant period, plans call for the construction of a mobile oil extraction mill and a mobile biodiesel batch reactor. Post Oak, along with its partners, plan to use the extraction mill and batch reactor for field demonstrations, extracting the oil from the seed and producing biodiesel on farms.”

Partners include Texas AgriLife Extension, Prairie View A&M University, Common Sense Agriculture, NRCS and private landowners in Brazos, Burleson, Freestone, Grimes, Lee, Leon, Madison, Robertson, Waller and Washington counties.

The primary goal is to determine species and varieties that will thrive in the 10-county area. Varieties are planted in replicated plots and are observed for tolerances to moisture, drought, cold, disease, insects and fertility. Other important factors that will be noted are planting density, lodging, shatter, soil type, oil content and quality, and days to maturity.

Trials are planted in mid October. The earlier maturing varieties will be harvested in mid May and the later maturing varieties will be harvested in early June. Maturity is a very important factor because early harvest will allow farmers to fit canola into their current cropping rotation.

“Top varieties which excel in production will be planted over the next two years in larger strip trials. Rape, canola, mustard and radish seed all have an oil content of over 40 percent and have been widely used as feed stock or the production of biodiesel,” Smith said.

The development of a cool season vegetable oil crop will give farmers the option of raising and producing their own fuel or simply selling the crop for additional cash flow. The success of this project will give both farmers and citizens in the Post Oak area another choice in their search for alternatives to petroleum based fuels.

Allen Smith, left, Post Oak RC&D coordinator, and Dr. Gaylon Morgan, right, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, observe Canola varieties growing in plot trials.

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