CANOLA PREDICTED MAJOR VIRGINIA CROP OF FUTURE
Canola, a mustard-family crop valued for its oil, may be one of Virginia's top crops by the year 2,000, according to Virginia Cooperative Extension agronomist Dan Brann.
''In 10 to 20 years, it could be one of the major acreage crops in the state,'' he says. ''If producers can make good money on it and it's adaptable to a wide range of soils, who knows?''
Canola, also known as rapeseed, has long been grown in Canada and Europe, but is just now becoming popular in the United States as consumers look for oils high in monosaturated fat.
Scientists now believe that monounsaturated fatty acids help keep blood cholesterol levels down, says Jo Ann Barton, extension nutrition specialist at Virginia Tech.
''For awhile, the emphasis was on polyunsaturated fatty acids,'' she says. ''But now we've discovered that monounsaturated fatty acids have some of the same properties.
''Canola is not only high in monounsaturated fatty acids, but it has less saturated fat than any of the other oils.''
Other oils high in monounsaturated fat are olive and peanut oils, Barton says. Unlike those two, canola doesn't have any flavor. Virginia farmers are just now starting to look at canola as a viable annual winter crop, Brann says.
''To my knowledge to date, there has not been a commercial field of canola in Virginia,'' he says. ''But if things come together for some farmers in the eastern part of the state, we may see some planted this fall.'' Farmers on Maryland's eastern shore grew it last year and were successful, Brann says.
''They made as much or more money than they could have growing wheat, which is the traditional winter annual crop,'' he says.
Three years ago, variety trials of canola were conducted in Virginia, and they showed that the state's farmers could expect yields of between 30 and 70 bushels per acre.
Canola produces have been receiving about $5 a bushel for their product. Wheat prices have been running from $2.75 to $3 a bushel. Canola also is attractive simply because it's a winter annual. Anytime Virginia farmers have the option of another winter annual, it's a good thing, Brann says.
''Winter annuals can be grown on our lighter soils during the winter when we have adequate moisture,'' he says.
That means producers who grow canola will plant it in the fall and harvest it in the spring. That timetable in Virginia still allows producers to double crop, or produce two crops, one after the other, with soybeans.
And canola doesn't need any special equipment for production. ''We can plant and harvest it mechanically with normal farm equipment,'' Brann says. ''In other words, a farmer raising corn or soybeans could use the equipment he already has.
''It's the first new crop I've heard of that doesn't require us to buy a whole new set of equipment or hire a bunch of people to get all the work done, so it's exciting from that standpoint,'' says Brann.
One of the only drawbacks of canola is that it can be grown in the same field only once every four years. ''That means it has to be part of a long-term rotation,'' Brann says. But Brann still thinks canola could be one of the state's top 10 crops by the turn of the century. And if it does become popular, it has the added by-product of adding lovely, vibrant-yellow flowers to agricultural areas.
''You might even dub it `the beautification of rural Virginia,' '' he says, ''because for about a month, you'll see a whole field of beautiful, yellow flowers 4- to 5-feet tall. It's just amazing.''