Expansion of Winter Canola Production in the Southeastern U.S.

Canola production in the U.S. has not kept pace with the domestic demand for canola as food oil and biodiesel feedstock. Eighty three percent of the three billion pounds of canola the U.S. consumes annually is imported from Canada. The development of winter canola varieties has spurred production in the Midsouth and has great potential to expand in acreage in the southeastern region particularly with the growing interest in canola farming among commercial growers in north Alabama and neighboring areas in Tennessee and Georgia. Mild winters, adequate winter rainfall, the potential to double-crop and the availability of local soybean oil processing facilities make the southeastern United States a promising site for canola production. This paper provides an account of farmer adoption of canola as an alternative crop to winter wheat in the region.