Winter Canola Testing in the High Elevation and Irrigated Lands of New Mexico.

Winter canola fits well into crop rotation systems where winter wheat is grown, especially when weed problems decrease wheat yields. Major commercial canola production regions in the USA are in north central states where large diurnal temperature fluctuations exist. The NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Farmington is situated in the Four Corners region of northwest New Mexico near the center of the high desert Colorado Plateau. Winter temperatures are relatively mild and diurnal fluctuations during April to June (50% flowering to graining filling) are around 15 ⁰C. The center has participated in the National Winter Canola Variety Trial as an irrigated site for six years since 2008. ASC-Farmington had the highest grain yields for the whole NWCVT during 2009 (4,648 kg ha^-1) and again in 2012 (4,739 kg ha^-1). The overall 6-year mean yield for ASC-Farmington (3,448 kg ha^-1) was third out of the full 77 sites that participated during this period. The Number 1 and 2 production sites each participated only once during these six years. Mean oil production over the six years at ASC-Farmington was 38.0%. Using average figures from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service website, grain values at ASC-Farmington ranged from $1,399 to $2,763 per hectare. This is in contrast to the range of $806 to $1,546 per hectare for NWCVT and $673 to $925 per hectare for the national average.