Oilseeds for Fuel, Feed and the Future
Innovations Grant Report
Mark Cartwright
Miles City, Montana
February 2008
1) What did you hope to accomplish?
Since juncea is a new crop being introduced into the area with limited production history pertaining to the local environment, our 2007 goal was to obtain production data from six different locations throughout northeastern Montana. Another smaller goal was to document crop rotation benefits which we’ll try to follow-up on next year (2008).
2) What did you do?
We had a team of six growers plant and raise juncea on a field scale level and fill-out a questionnaire based on their experience, growing conditions and local environment the juncea endured over the season.
3) What were the results this year?
Overall, it was a disappointing year for juncea and other small seeded oil crop production in the area due to the intense mid-summer heat and no rain after early to mid-June for most of northeastern Montana.
The six growers and their results raising juncea:
- Greg LaBatte – 600 lbs/acre. The field looked very nice and production was expected to be greater, but the mid-season heat without rain really hurt the crop more than anticipated.
Oil Content = 39.75%
- Karl Waitschies – 250 lbs/ac. Karl’s field did have problems from the beginning. There was no consensus about the lack of juncea plant stand and weed control issues.
Oil Content = 39.73%
- Ron Cartwright – 350 lbs/ac. A BIG wind storm of 85 mph during the first part of Aug did shatter a significant portion of the crop.
Oil Content = 38.96%
- Grant Zerbe – Intense hail storm during the first part of June wiped out the crop. No production data. This field of Grant’s was planted in mid-April and looked very outstanding. We were very disappointed with no harvest data. Grant’s limited results lead us in the direction of evaluating an early to mid-April planting recommendation.
- Neil Turnbull – 700 lbs/ac average on a mix of dryland and irrigated ground. Expectations were higher, especially since the majority of the ground was under sprinkler irrigation. Our only logical conclusion is that the intense summer heat affected the juncea more than expected.
Oil Content = 38.81%
- Brad Lindbloom – 400 lbs/ac on 40 acres dryland. Brad received a late July hail storm that removed most of the leaves. This was an issue with Brad’s later seeding date of mid-May. Brad had some issues with storage of the juncea as well. It was ~13% moisture when he harvested the crop and it did spoil significantly with improper storage and handling at that grain moisture level.
As you can see, there were big learning curves for Pioneer Hi-Bred International and most of our growers – many who have had limited or no canola growing experiences. Fortunately, no particular individual had huge acreages and the overall business risk was quite minor.
Pioneer’s 45J10 juncea hybrid did perform much better in southern Saskatchewan and western North Dakota, where there also was significant acreage. Of these 16 sites (9 in Saskatchewan and 7 in North Dakota), the juncea performed +/- 100 to 150 lbs/ac of the neighboring canola fields. Most of the juncea fields were equal to slightly less in yield compared to the neighboring canola, but we did have a 3-4 locations in Canada where the 45J10 yielded better than the comparison canola. Average western North Dakota canola yields were in the 1200-1500 lb/ac range while the southern Saskatchewan growing season produced average canola yields around 1350 – 1700 lbs/ac.
4) Were there any unanticipated results or surprises you encountered along the way?
Nothing in particular with the agronomics. Some items listed above, but nothing consistent.
Overall, Pioneer was surprised by the low yields. Pioneer excels in bringing above average performing seed products to the market place. Even though the ’07 crop production year seen small seeded oil crops suffer extensively in the Mon-Dak region, we expected our juncea to perform better – plain and simple. Pioneer has the outlook that if the environment can provide an average spring wheat yield (average dryland production history for most of Montana would be in the 25 bushel/acre range), then our juncea needs to perform economically to compete. Pioneer has always been in the business to help farmers and end users of the crops succeed. We realize that every year brings unique growing environments, but consistency is always well respected.
5) Were there any particular practical or policy barriers you encountered as you conducted this project?
The only slight barrier our group encountered was with federal crop insurance. Some of the growers had a history of canola on their farm (or started a canola cropping history) and insured the juncea as canola. However, a few of the growers were not able to, or were forced into limited insurance on the crop.
Pioneer is currently working with a USDA risk management specialist to assist in clearing up this issue.
6) How will you use what you’ve learned?
Pioneer Hi-Bred International will start collaborating with MSU-Northern (in Havre, MT) to test Pioneer juncea breeding material for the Montana environment. Currently, Pioneer’s juncea breeding facility is located in Saskatoon, SK and the difference in weather conditions between central Saskatchewan and Montana could be more significant than anticipated. These differences in environment testing should lead to the selection of a more consistent performing juncea hybrid that is more adapted for the Montana plains.
Also, after review of the questionnaires, Pioneer also thinks that we need to adjust planting date recommendations in Montana to the early April time frame. Most of northeastern Montana growers seeded their juncea in late April / early May in 2007. An earlier planting date does bring along a slight risk of frost injury on the crop, but we have noticed juncea to be a tad more frost tolerant than napus canola. The last three cropping seasons in Montana have provided good early season rains, but very hot and very dry weather during the latter half of June and all of July. These mid-season conditions have greatly limited crop yields of all types and especially small seeded oil crops. An earlier juncea planting date will help offset the detrimental effects during these types of growing seasons.
Pioneer will continue with juncea seed sales to Montana customers for the 2008 growing season and beyond. However, we plan to work more closely with growers to minimize the learning curves and build towards greater acceptance and understanding with our juncea.
|
