Oilseed w-shops slated

Registration is now open for a series of three workshops about the opportunities and benefits of growing an oilseed crop in a cereal rotation. Sessions are slated for Jan. 26 at Hartline, Jan. 31 at Ritzville and Feb. 2 at Clarkston.

Low wheat prices along with challenges such as falling numbers and problematic weeds and diseases in cereal crops are just a few reasons to attend one or more of the sessions. Farmers here have Pacific Northwest markets for canola, mustard and camelina as well as western U.S. markets for other oilseeds.

Each workshop session will present highlights from the Washington Oilseeds Cropping Systems Project and include the basics of getting started with growing an oilseed crop, hands-on diagnostic sessions with live canola plants, drill and combine settings, fertilizer management, variety selection and marketing, including grazing canola and mustard. Information will be geared toward growing conditions and rotations specific to the surrounding region of each workshop, including irrigated. Presenters will include university faculty and staff, local growers and ag industry reps.

Jeff Scott, Oklahoma canola producer and current U.S. Canola Association president, and Ron Sholar, executive director of the Great Plains Canola Association, along with producers, will talk about forming a Pacific Northwest Canola Growers Association. An additional meeting is slated for Feb. 1 to address the details of an association.

The workshop registration of $20 includes lunch and all refreshments. Each workshop will end with an industry sponsored social.

For more information contact Karen Sowers, extension and outreach specialist for oilseeds WSU Crop and Soil Sciences office, 227 Sitka Ct., Richland, WA, 99352.