Potential for Double-Cropping with Winter Camelina.

Double-cropping camelina with a food or forage crop may offer a profitable means of producing a dedicated biofuel crop without jeopardizing food security. A 2-yr field study was conducted in west central Minnesota to evaluate the agronomic and economic viability of producing short-season cultivars of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], oilseed sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), and forage millet (Setaria italica L.) after winter camelina in conventionally-tilled and no-tilled soil. Averaged over both years of this study, double-crop soybean and sunflower yielded 82 and 72% percent, respectively, of their conventionally-managed mono-crop counterparts. Total oil yields for the camelina-soybean and camelina-sunflower sequences averaged 704 and 1508 L ha^-1, rivaling oil yields of mono-cropped soybean or sunflower. Moreover, double-crop soybean seed protein content was little affected by late seeding, while double-crop sunflower oil content averaged over both years was about 13% lower than conventional sunflower sown at an optimum time. If camelina prices were similar to canola, double-crop soybean and sunflower average net returns over both years of the study ranged from 99-111% and 77-84%, respectively, of their conventionally-managed mono-crop counterparts. Double-cropping winter camelina with soybean appears to have the greatest potential and using camelina as a dedicated biofuel crop offers at least a partial solution to the fuel vs. food debate.