Canola is Saskatchewan's second most important crop, after wheat. Bright yellow fields of blossoming canola are a familiar sight in the summer. Canola was developed from rapeseed, through plant breeding and research. Canola oil has a complement of fatty acids that make it one of the healthiest edible oils. In contrast, rapeseed oil was not suitable for human consumption. Canola meal is a nutritious livestock feed. In contrast, rapeseed meal contains toxic chemicals called glucosinolates and erucic acid that inhibit growth and cause thyroid problems in livestock. The knowledge and ingenuity of science has transformed rapeseed into canola. Such miracles have come about only after years of hard work, research, and countless field tests of new canola varieties. For more information on the canola industry check out the food industry section. Canola is a member of the Crucifarea family. This family includes broccoli, cabbage and mustard seed. Canola grows 1 to 1.5m high and has a seed pod with 15 to 40 small round seeds. The seeds have a high percentage of oil and therefore canola is classed as a type of oilseed. There are two types of canola; the short growing season Polish type (Brassica rapa/campestris) and the longer season Argentine type (Brassica napus). The Polish type is the predominant kind grown in Saskatchewan. Where is it produced in Saskatchewan? Canola can be grown in various locations in the province depending on soil fertility and weather conditions. The day to maturity range from 85 to 87 for the Polish varieties and 98 to 102 days for the Argentine varieties. While the Argentine varieties take longer to mature, they typically produce a higher yield. How much do we produce? Canola is fifth in the world trade in agricultural crops, after rice, wheat, maize and cotton. Canola is Canada's third most important grain export, after wheat and barley. In the 1940s, Canadian farmers planted 6000 acres of rapeseed per year. In the 1990s, farmers are planting about 10.5 million acres of canola annually. About 20% of Saskatchewan field crops are canola. Saskatchewan produces approximately 40% of the Canadian production of canola. Canola oil accounts for 63% of the total edible vegetable oils produced in Canada, compare to 24% for soybean oil and 4% for sunflower oil. What does it look like when I use it? Canola is pressed and the oil is used for cooking and salad oils or processed into margarine. Canola is 42 to 45% oil, and 23% protein. It contains monosaturated fat (62%) and polyunsaturated fat (32%). These fats are essential sources of energy, and may actually lower the risk of heart disease. Canola oil has the lowest level of saturated fats of the available vegetable oils at 6-7%. It has won health and nutrition awards because of its low saturates and balance of fatty acids. The canola seed is processed through a complex series of steps which results in four groups of canola products: canola meal - leftover after the oil has been pressed out of the seed; used as a high protein and energy feed supplement for livestock crude degummed oil canola oil products packaged for the consumer -margarine is packaged for sale in convenient sizes; canola oil is low in cholesterol bulk canola oil Trials are underway to use canola as a diesel fuel, a hydraulic oil and as a biodegradable chain saw oil. How is it produced? Canola is grown in a process that is similar to the growing of grains. Fields are cultivated, seeded, fertilized and pesticides are applied to control insects, weeds and diseases. Seedlings emerge 4-10 days after planting. The bottom leaves are produced in a rosette and the plant sends up a flower stalk when the days lengthen. Flowering lasts 14-21 days. The fields at this time are a brilliant mass of yellow blossoms. The flowers of the Polish type are fertilized by the wind and the Argentine type are self-pollinated. However, bees visit the flowers for nectar to produce honey and also carry pollen. Once the flowers are fertilized, pods form and take 35-45 days to fill. The field is swathed when about one-third to one-half of the seeds have turned colour from green to yellow or brown. The swathed crop is allowed to dry for about 10 days and then combined. What happens after it leaves the farm? Part of the Saskatchewan canola production is moved by truck to the nearest grain elevator and is unloaded. From there, the canola seed is transported to crushing plants in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan, where it is processed. Canola oil is quite literally "wrung" out of the seed. After initial crushing, a crude oil remains. When that is cleaned and refined, the oil can be stored safely for months or years. Canola seed yields about 40% oil and 60% meal. A typical processing plant has a daily crushing capacity of 6.5 thousand tonnes. The crushing plant at Nipawin, Saskatchewan, has an annual capacity of 104,000 tonnes. Canola oil is shipped, in bulk, from the processing plant to domestic and foreign markets, or packaged at the plant for distribution to consumers. Japan is the number one export market for canola and canola seed. Other importers of smaller quantities are the United States, Western Europe, Belgium, Korea and Mexico. Canada is a net exporter of vegetable oils, with the U.S.A. importing more than 80% of our production. About two-thirds of the canola meal produced goes to the U.S.A. Japan and Norway are also major importers of meal. What challenges does the producer face? Since canola seed is very fine (about the size of a radish or turnip seed) and it must be planted shallow. It takes especially good seedbed preparation to not dry out the surface of the soil so the seed can germinate. Canola is subject to attack from several diseases and insects. To reduce the impact of these, farmers are advised to grow canola only one year in four on the same field. Seed treatment is used to reduce seedling disease and early flea beetle attack. Herbicides are used to control competition from weeds. The economics of growing canola versus grain are at present such that farmers are shortening rotations and increasing the risk of disease. Plant breeders are working to produce varieties which have tolerance to the major diseases. Interesting FACTS...Canola and Rapeseed Canola and rapeseed are actually the same species. Rapeseed was good for industrial uses; it was used as a lamp and cooking oil by ancient civilizations in Asia and Europe, and was found to be the best lubricant to cling to steam washed surfaces on steam engines. Original varieties of rapeseed had high levels of erucic acid and glucosinolates, making cooking oils unsuitable for humans (erucic acid is associated with heart lesions in test animals) and the oilcake (seed residue) was unsuitable for livestock (sulfur compounds reduced ability to be used as a glucosinolate). Breeding experiments led to the development of rapeseed varieties which contained lower amounts of these compounds. The improved varieties were given the name of canola, and released in 1974. The crop rapidly became very popular; for the first time, the dollar value of canola was thought to exceed wheat in 1994. Plant developers are working with both rapeseed and canola to establish new varieties to widen the range of non­food or industrial uses. Some of the latter could include the production of lubricating or hydraulic oils, diesel fuel additives, plastics and even medicines. Days to maturity of different canola types can range from about 85 to 87 (for Polish varieties) and 98 to 102 (for Argentine varieties). Although both types are prone to a serious disease called blackleg, the Argentines can experience severe losses owing to their longer growing times. Weather conditions, seed varieties and market conditions have all had strong influences on the areas and ranges seeded to this crop. Check out the Canola Council of Canada for more information.