A new canola hybrid is heading north, and it could give Prairie growers a powerful new option for stressed soils and renewable markets.
Bred for resilience in heat, drought and low-organic soils, a new yellow-seeded variety carries the promise of fresh opportunity for seed companies, for farmers and for industries looking to source biofuels closer to home. But promises in agriculture come with conditions, and stakeholders across the value chain are watching closely to see how the seed performs in the real world.
At a late-June launch event in Great Falls, Montana, state and industry leaders gathered to discuss what this yellow-seeded canola, coined InVigor Gold, could mean. The conversations revealed a seed story rooted in decades of research, shaped by climate realities and driven by an evolving energy economy. It’s expected to be available in Canada by the end of the decade or early next.
“We’ve Found Something That Just Works.”
Unlike traditional hybrids developed from Brassica napus, the new yellow-seeded canola draws from the hardier Brassica juncea germplasm, which originates from regions like India and Russia. This breeding choice wasn’t random; it was strategic.
“You think about that timeline… it was over 30 years ago when we started this project,” BASF canola agronomy lead Marc Hoobler says. “It really comes down to the germplasm base that we started with. We’ve found something that just works in a lower organic matter, higher drier environment.”
That’s not just a breeding triumph — it’s an agronomic response to years of climate variability across the Northern Great Plains.
“Drought, unpredictable yields and short growing windows are facts of life here,” Montana Governor Greg Gianforte said at the event. “To have a strain that will be [drought tolerant] is a huge step forward. It just gives [farmers] another option.”
A Seed Designed for Stress
This new yellow-seeded canola isn’t entirely new. It’s a close relative of long-standing hybrids already in the market, but it sets itself apart in key ways. Most notably, it matures earlier — by as much as five to seven days — which can help crops avoid late-summer heat at flowering.
Dale Flikkema, a Montana farmer and U.S. Canola Council vice president, sees the timing advantage as more than just a technical trait.
“Canola has always been very, very difficult to turn a profit,” he says. “And I’ve always felt the risk of frost damage in the spring is not as much as the risk of heat and wind at flowering time in the summer. So anytime we can push that window of flowering at least five or 10 days earlier, that’s pretty exciting for canola growers.”
The seed has also shown early signs of toughness in difficult soil. Shelby, Montana, farmer Casey Nickol ran trials this season in fields hit with dry conditions.
“It didn’t come out of the ground for three weeks,” he says. “There’s napus plots right next to it, and once we got a little bit of rain, [the yellow-seeded canola] came out and started to flower in probably two to three weeks. We’re still waiting on the napus to flower.”
In early trials across 23 sites from 2022 to 2024, the variety showed an 8% average yield increase over traditional canola in hotter, drier environments — data that BASF says it will continue to validate before full commercial release in 2027.
A Different Approach to Weed Control
For farmers in Montana and the Northern Great Plains, resistant weeds aren’t a future threat; they’re a current frustration.
“We’re fighting a lot of resistant wild oats, resistant cheatgrass, pigeon grass,” Flikkema says. “We’re losing the battle. So we need something different to change that.”
This yellow-seeded canola includes a herbicide-tolerant trait that allows for a different mode of action in weed management — an increasingly important option in areas where common chemistries are losing effectiveness.
“We’ve really seen that introducing [this chemistry] into our rotation has cut down on problem weeds like kochia,” Nickol says. “Not only in the crop, but also by helping us make use of acres that might’ve been left fallow.”
According to BASF’s agronomy team, the hybrid can be integrated into existing wheat-based cropping systems without significant equipment changes. Trials are also underway to determine best practices for seeding rates, seed treatments and herbicide programs tailored to this new canola type.
An Oilseed with New Fuel Behind It
On the demand side, the potential market for Montana-grown canola has never been higher.
Montana Renewables vice president for government relations Krista Evans shared what the crop could mean for the state’s energy infrastructure.
“Today, our current demand for feedstocks… if we were to use only canola oil, we would use oil from about 1.5 million acres of canola,” she said. “With our expansion, that could grow to over 3 million acres.”
That projection is tied to a $1.4 billion Department of Energy loan to scale Montana Renewables’ sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production from 30 million to 300 million gallons per year by 2027.
“To have canola that grows well here and that producers can rely on — I think it’s a great fit,” Evans said. “The more we can produce, the more energy independence we create internally within Montana and within the nation.”
Rotation and Soil Health Benefits
Seed companies and processors aren’t the only ones seeing opportunity. Farmers say the real-world impact of introducing a crop like this goes beyond yields and market price.
“We’re pretty much getting rid of fallows,” Nickol says. “Most guys I sell to are 100% crop, and they’re looking for that oilseed to add to rotation. They’ve tried flax, mustard — it all almost works, but not quite. If [this yellow-seeded canola] fits as well as napus and mitigates some risk, that’s a big win.”
Flikkema echoed the value of a diverse rotation:
“When we put in a canola crop into our rotation… I noticed my soil was different after that crop,” he says. “Canola’s a huge user of phosphate and potash, but it’s not a taker of it. It leaves it. And in my vision, it releases what’s in the soil so my next crops can take it back on.”
Not a Miracle Crop — Yet
While enthusiasm ran high during the launch, even BASF’s own representatives were quick to temper expectations.
BASF head of seeds anda traits Bryan Perry says they are expanding trials into Kansas and other parts of the central Great Plains, with commercial planting targeted first for Montana and surrounding regions by 2027, pending regulatory approval.
“There’s a lot more genetic material coming behind it,” Hoobler said. “We’re not just going to have one hybrid.”
Still, for farmers used to waiting for Illinois or Iowa to be first in line, the Montana-first rollout has struck a different tone.
“This is what’s fun,” Hoobler said. “That we finally have something that is really specific to this environment that’s going to help farmers.”
