Canola flexes muscle outside biofuel arena

Capital Press

Oilseed tops researcher's list for nitrogen fixing, protein content
Jamie Henneman For the Capital Press

PULLMAN, Wash. - Canola may be one of the most beneficial crops in the oilseed family, due to its ability to fix nitrogen into the ground and the protein content of crushed canola meal, WSU researcher Dennis Roe said at the recent Bioenergy Cropping Systems Research Field Day.

This yellow-flowered plant from the brassica family can be a beneficial crop to rotate into a wheat cycle, both for the nitrogen-rich biomass it can leave behind for the next wheat crop (at least 5 percent) and for its varied marketability. Roe credited the nitrogen benefit to the fact that canola stubble breaks down faster than stubble from a cereal crop, making the nitrogen more available to the next cycle of wheat.

Read the full story