Planting Date, N Fertilizer Application Timing and Rate Effects on Brassica Carinata Seed and Oil Production.

Production of non-food oilseed Brassica carinata as a winter crop presents a unique opportunity for growers in the Southeast to produce significant amounts of biofuel to meet domestic energy needs. Carinata crude is a highly desirable feedstock for catalytic hydrothermolytic conversion to ‘drop in’ renewable jet fuel. Ongoing research at NFREC, Quincy, Florida aims to develop best management practices to facilitate the production and expansion of carinata in the Southeast US. Two field experiments were conducted during the 2014/2015 growing season to quantify the effects of N application timing (planting, bolting and flowering, Study 1) and N rates (0, 45, 90 and 135 kg N ha^-1, Study 2) on carinata agronomic performance and oil production. Both studies were planted during late November 2014 and late January 2015. In Study 1, maximum seed yield was achieved when 50% N was applied at either planting (3700 kg ha^-1) or bolting (3500 kg ha^-1) and the remainder applied either at bolting or flowering in the earlier planting.  For the later planting date applying 100% N at planting produced the greatest yields (1570 kg ha^-1). In Study 2, seed yield increased linearly with N application rate from the 0 N control to 90 kg N ha^-1 at a rate of 7.2 and 5.3 kg seed kg N^-1 applied for the November and January planting dates, respectively.  There was no yield benefit with additional N above 90 kg ha^-1 at both planting dates. Averaged across N rate, planting in November yielded 57% more seed than the January planting. N rate had no effect on oil concentration/composition while N timing altered the oil, protein and oil constituents across planting dates. These preliminary results suggest that carinata planted in November with optimum N rate and timing can maximize carinata seed and oil production in the Southeast.