Forage Quality of Winter Canola Grown On the Southern Plains.

Winter canola seed production is becoming a popular option for winter wheat producers in the Southern Plains.  Using herbicide resistant canola varieties in a wheat rotation can improve wheat yields by clearing the field of difficult to control weedy grasses.  Canola is grown for its oil used for cooking and biodiesel, which is obtained from the harvested mature seed.  The ability to utilize winter canola as a dual-purpose forage, similar to winter wheat, should maximize economic return for ranchers.  In this system, cattle would graze the canola after stand establishment, in late fall and early winter.  Cattle would then be removed before spring re-growth and seed production.  There are at least two concerns with dual-purpose canola, significant reduction in seed production and toxic levels of nitrate accumulation in leaves.  In a preliminary experiment, winter canola was established at Woodward, OK – USDA-ARS in Sept 2010.  The canola forage (leaf and stem) was harvest three times prior to spring re-growth.  The first two harvests were separated into leaf and stem.  All harvests were analyzed for nitrate concentration, crude protein, and digestibility.  Results from forage analysis (available soon) indicated canola nitrate levels ranged from (TBA).  Future experiments will be designed to include animal grazing performance and subsequent seed yield data.