b'Canadas vice president of crop production and innovation, saysan exciting time for canola and biofuel. some producers dedicate some acreage to biofuel production.Canada is not the only country with opportunity in We have rising North American demand and, althoughcanola. In the southern United States, Corteva Agriscience its not much now, we expect to be shipping more canola oil toannounced a collaboration in March with Bunge and Chevron Europe in the future, Rempel explains. Europe has histori- Ag Renewables to introduce proprietary winter canola hybrids, cally grown quite a bit of rapeseed and now canola is alsoprimarily for the growing domestic renewable fuels market. grown there for biofuel, but with the European Union banningGrowers will use these hybrids as a double-cropping system fol-neonic insecticides a few years ago, their yields are down. So,lowing soybeans or cotton. we expect that their imports of canola oil from North America for biofuel use will increase quite substantially.Todays industrial canola varieties still contain high levels of erucic acid, similar to their ancestors and to rapeseed, which was grown in Canada during the Second World War to make lubricant oil for engines in naval ships. Rempel says demand for canola oil as a blending agent in biodiesel and aviation fuel is growing. Meanwhile, in North America, the Manitoba and Canadian federal governments announced in June $2.9 million in fund-ing for Azure Sustainable Fuels to do an engineering design study for a sustainable aviation fuel plant near Portage la Prairie, Man. Also in June, Canadas first stand-alone renewable diesel refinery, a $380-million refinery in British Columbia, completed construction. The Tidewater Renewables-owned facility will use canola, tallow and tall oil to produce more than 170 million litres of biofuel a year. The renewable diesel will produce 80% to 90% less carbon emissions compared to fossil fuel diesel.In addition, four companiesCeres, Viterra, Richardson and Cargillare building canola crushing plants in Saskatchewan. Rempel attributes that substantial increase in crushing capacity to rising biofuel demand. To meet this demand, weve had the strategy to increase yields and not acreage, and breeding for yield increase will continue, he adds. But also ultimately, over the next decade, well see the results of breeding for increased segregation of oilCanada is the worlds largest producer of canola, growing more than 25% profiles for all three canola end uses: food, feed and fuel. of the global supply. Photo: Corteva AgriscienceOn the canola oil profile developments achieved so far, Rempel says, We already have the high-oleic profiles that haveGrowing Feedstock Over Winter a huge food market, and lower-oleic for livestock feed, as wellOne exciting way to boost the sustainability of biofuels is to as omega fatty acid profiles being developed to replace marinegrow biofuel feedstock crops as cover crops. Cover crops help fish oils for farming salmon. We still have high-erucic acidimprove soil health, reduce erosion and provide multiple other canola grown for industrial oil manufacture, so we have a greatbenefits. Introducing biofuel cover crops could provide an foundation to build on with a lot of variability in oil profilesadditional source of revenue for farmers while boosting biofuel to choose from. And gene editing tools make breeding muchfeedstock production.faster. Justin Ingalls, commercial sales lead for Nuseed in North Rempel says time will reveal whether the ideal canola oilAmerica, says the company introduced its first carinata hybrid profiles for renewable diesel and aviation fuel significantly differwith improved frost resilience for cover crop cultivation in a from the ones currently available.southern U.S. winter cycle. The big breeding companies and some smaller firms as wellThe hybrid, introduced in 2022, has a non-GMO herbicide as several Canadian and U.S. universities, private institutionstolerance system, which is a flexibility plus for growers, and and government breeders are all working on this, he says. Itsoffers high yield potential and nitrogen use efficiency. In terms JANUARY 2024GERMINATION.CA 25'