Released: March 20, 2007

Canola Field Tour Slated for April 25

MANHATTAN, Kan. – A canola researcher and a veteran grower will be two of the featured speakers at the Canola Field Tour for producers April 25 in the Sterling, Partridge and Hutchinson, Kan., areas.

“This is a great opportunity for producers to learn more about this important crop,” said Kansas State University agronomist Kraig Roozeboom.

The tour begins at 9 a.m. near Sterling, Kan. It then moves to the Partridge area and ends at K-State’s South Central Experiment Field near Hutchinson.

K-State and Oklahoma State University have been collaborating on research aimed at increasing central Great Plains growers’ ability to produce canola profitably, said Roozeboom, who is a crop production specialist with K-State Research and Extension.

Times, locations, and speakers for the tour will include:

9:00-9:45 a.m. - Clark Woodworth Farm, Sterling, Kan. – Canola producer Clark Woodworth will compare conventional, no-till, and no-till/burn tillage systems. Vic Martin, K-State Research and Extension agronomist, will discuss a multi-site research project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency.

10:15-10:45 a.m. - Partridge Research Farm, Partridge, Kan. – Dave Mengel, K-State agronomist, will address soil fertility issues in canola production. Vic Martin will also give an overview of the tillage systems research at Partridge.

11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. – K-State South Central Experiment Field, Hutchinson, Kan. – K-State agronomist Bill Heer will talk about last season and the outlook for 2007. Canola researcher Mike Stamm will give an overview of the National Winter Canola Variety Trial, the varieties adapted to the region and other research projects at K-State and OSU. Martin will round out the program with observations from a two-year planting-date study.

Canola, raised primarily for its use as cooking oil, is a broadleaf crop that can be grown in rotation with wheat in Kansas and Oklahoma. The water-efficient crop can reduce grassy weeds, diseases and insects in subsequent wheat fields and can be a forage crop for livestock. When the oilseed is crushed, it results in a high-protein meal that dairies, in particular, like to feed.

More information, registration and directions to the sites are available by contacting Troy-Lynn Eckart at 785-532-5776 or sprite@ksu.edu. More information about growing canola in the central Plains and about the K-State-OSU canola partnership is available at: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/2005/canola_complements082305.htm and at http://www.agronomy.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=543.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Mary Lou Peter-Blecha
mlpeter@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News