FUELING WINTER CANOLA CULTIVAR AVAILABILITY TO MEET NEW DEMAND FOR OIL

The goal of this project is to deliver publicly available, agronomically sound, and high performing winter canola cultivars to producers in the Great Plains and other states. Greater yields, herbicide resistance, and agronomic superiority are needed to meet the growing domestic demand for canola seed, oil, and meal to support food, feed, and fuel end uses. The rationale for this project is to generate new data through additional testing to quickly identify adapted cultivars for introduction into the winter canola market. New data over a greater number of locations will accelerate our ability to identify cultivars meriting release. Increasing the location number gives us the opportunity to encounter additional genotype by environment interactions, observe a wider look at the effect of environment on key traits, and identify cultivars that may be more stable across environmental conditions. The introduction of new, winter canola cultivars will 1) provide renewable biofuel feedstocks, 2) enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base of agriculture, 3) sustain the economic viability of farms, and 4) enhance the quality of life of farmers and society as a whole. The long-term enhancements and benefits include improved cropping systems diversity of wheat-based agriculture, persistent grower confidence in canola as an alternative crop, superior yield consistency of canola cultivars, and increased canola production to meet U.S. domestic demand for canola seed, oil, and meal. Novel products for the winter canola market will be developed by this project. A step change in cultivar and hybrid performance, as well as an available, regional market will be the catalysts that reignite a stagnant canola industry in the Great Plains. This project could help bridge the gap between an open-pollinated cultivar driven market and the conversion to a new era of hybrids. The following objectives align directly with the program area of focus and will guide the project in achieving the expected results and outcomes.Test, advance, release, and license new conventional and Roundup Ready® open-pollinated cultivars in collaboration with interested parties across the Great Plains and other states. Safeguard new technologies through Plant Variety Protection and licensing. Deposit germplasm within the National Plaint Germplasm System for future preservation and utilization.Support broader testing within the National Winter Canola Variety Trial. Provide expertise and financial support to current and new collaborators to enable high performance testing. Additional locations will provide data to support future cultivar release.Test new female, male-sterile hybrid parent lines in line x tester combinations for broad adaptability to the Great Plains. Calculate general combining ability and heterosis for important traits to determine which parental lines produce the best hybrid combinations and propose specific parent lines for increase and release.Directly deliver cultivar and hybrid performance results and characteristics, and promote the benefits of experimental and newly released cultivars to stakeholders and clientele. Methods of delivery may include, but are not limited to, field days, production meetings both in person and virtually, extension publications, agronomy updates, radio and television interviews, and social media. Cultivar manuscripts will be published in the Journal of Plant Registrations.