Lincoln, Nebraska
December 12, 2007Oilseed
crops in Nebraska just plain make sense.
The oil-producing seeds of
crops like sunflower, canola and camelina not only produce oil
for human consumption, but can be used for producing biofuels
and byproducts for livestock.
In the Panhandle, the crops provide an alternative crop in wheat
rotations, helping diversify production, said Bill Booker,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Extension educator in Box Butte County.
"That's what got us through these tough times," Booker said.
"These crops can help us continue to do that."
Remaining diversified improves sustainability for the farming
economy.
In addition, a crusher plant to process the seeds would bring
economic development in rural communities, said Loren Isom,
technical coordinator for UNL's Industrial Agricultural Products
Center.
"If enough producers collaborate, they could develop a local
crushing market for several communities across Nebraska," he
said.
Booker and Isom hope to educate producers about the benefits of
planting these oilseed crops.
Sunflowers are a common alternative crop in Nebraska, Booker
said. Canola and camelina are not as common and are being
researched now at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center at
Scottsbluff for adoption to Nebraska's climate. Sunflower and
canola produce two to two and a half times more oil per acre
than soybeans. Regular soybean oil is 85 percent of the
vegetable oil market.
However, to make soybean oil a stable cooking oil, it must go
through a process called hydrogenation. This creates transfats
which raise bad cholesterol, or LDL, and lower the good, or HDL.
NuSun, or mid-oleic sunflower oil, and low linolenic soybean oil
is naturally stable and can be used extensively without being
hydrogenated. However, NuSun sunflower oil has a longer shelf
life.
Frito Lay eliminated its transfats and drastically lowered
saturated fats using NuSun sunflower oil.
"That is why there is such a huge demand right now for sunflower
oil," Booker said. "Its difficult to find sunflower oil as a
cooking oil in the stores right now."
This demand also has raised sunflower prices, making it an even
more viable alternative crop option.
"Sunflowers have been grown for a long time in Kansas and South
Dakota, so there is no reason why we shouldn't be able to grow
these crops in Nebraska," Booker said.
Booker said with better production knowledge sunflowers are now
easier to raise.
"Hybrids are so advanced," he said. "The hybrid selections
withstand rust and diseases so much better now." When it comes
to production costs, most producers already have the equipment
to plant these crops. They can be grown with traditional
planting and harvest equipment.
However, Booker and Isom agreed that the state does face some
limiting factors when it comes to oilseed production, mainly
processing and transportation. Also, producers typically do not
understand the revenue potential of oilseed crops and stick with
traditional corn/soybean rotations.
Potential yields of irrigated sunflowers could reach 3,000 to
even 4,000 pounds per acre. At current and new crop prices of 20
plus cents per pound, the return is high, Booker said.
"This may not have the revenue potential of corn, but production
costs are less with sunflowers," he said. They also use less
water than corn.
A local crusher plant could offer producers a premium for oil
content above 40 percent, and it could also recognize savings in
transportation costs.
There are two new crushing plants being built in Nebraska – one
in Arapahoe and one in Scribner – that are both interested in
sunflowers.
Additional markets for these types of vegetable oils are
biodiesel plants in Gering, Scribner, Beatrice and under
development in Araphaoe.
Other crusher plants in Nebraska have been dedicated to
soybeans. The existing soybean processing facilities are located
in Hastings, Lincoln, Fremont, West Point and Bruning.
For more information about growing oilseed crops or for upcoming
extension meetings about oilseed crops, contact Isom at (402)
472-8187 or Booker at (308) 762-5616.
For more information about growing oilseed crops, consult
Extension Circular EC838,
Alternative Crop Budgets and Decision Making;
the
High Plains Sunflower Production Handbook;
or the
Great Plains Canola Production Handbook.
These publications are also available by contacting a location
UNL Extension office. |
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