.jpg) Tech Crops International is bringing contract rapeseed production to the Carolina’s. John Hart co-owner Hartland Farms in Columbus County, NC, grew a 25 acre test plot for Tech Crops last winter:
“Worked out great. We had good yields, the crop was real easy to manage, wound up yielding 53 bushel to the acre…those are 50-pound bushels.”
Hart has tried a few cereal crops in the past, including canola, and says that rapeseed, in rotation with wheat worked better for them on their farm:
“It grows the same season as wheat, it’s a winter crop. We’ve had just average, little above average, yields on wheat compared to most growers in the state, and we had grown some canola in the past, and had some success with it. So, when this opportunity came along, we decided to try it, and see how it worked out. And it grew very well, matter of fact, we liked the way the plant grew better than canola, it wasn’t as tall, so it was a little easier to harvest.”
Hart says that for wheat growers, there’s no special equipment needed:
“We’ve got to just use the equipment that we’ve got, an air reel on the front of our combine, or on our grain table, and that helps out a lot. It’s a small round seed, and it has a tendency to shatter out of the seed pod when the reel hits it, and so that air reel helps to keep it kind of blown in. But, you can harvest it with just a typical grain table.”
And with this year’s success, Hartland Farms will probably plant more rapeseed this fall:
“What I think is that they’ll probably go along with it, we probably split our acreage, grow half wheat and half rapeseed, and rotate it that way. Rotation will tend to break up some pest cycles, and it also help with any potential disease problems that we might have with either crop.”
As far as disease issues go, Hart says they have yet to see any:
“We didn’t have any problems with disease. I think the big ones are black leg and scleratinia, and we didn’t have any problems with either one. And we haven’t had any problems with canola in the past when we’ve grown it either.”
Hart says that he’d recommend growing rapeseed for Technology Crops:
“I would encourage people to give it a try, at least look into it. a lot of people are concerned about the size of the seed, how you plant it, how you harvest it. But, it doesn’t take a great deal of effort to figure it out. I think a lot of growers would be pleased.”
To learn more about fall rapeseed contracts with Technology Crops, click here...
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