Planting dates for canola remain the same this spring in spite of intense efforts by the Northern Canola Growers Association to extend them.
Ryan Pederson, president of the Northern Canola Growers Association, said the group requested a 10-day extension on planting dates due to very wet conditions and muddy fields throughout the canola growing region.
Barry Coleman, executive director of the Northern Canola Growers Association, said they were not able to get the planting dates for this spring adjusted due to private insurance companies already having signed contracts for the year and not having the flexibility to change dates.
The USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) generated a map of the northern canola growing area listing the last planting dates for southwestern and south central North Dakota as May 10; for northeastern and north central Montana along with southeastern North Dakota as May 15; for northwestern, parts of north central and parts of east central North Dakota, May 20 and north central and northeastern North Dakota, May 31.
Although the dates are unchanged for this year, Coleman said the NCGA will be working toward adjusting planting dates for the next canola season in case wet conditions occur again.
Coleman said they do expect a drop in canola acreage this year because many producers won't have the time to get canola in. Fields are still wet throughout the state, and northern canola growing areas have standing water in the fields or mud.
"The north central region has so much water in the fields, that extending the date may not have helped them this year," he said, adding that producers are already talking about taking preventive planting payments on some acres.
Southwestern canola producers did have a few good days of seeding before the recent storms and were able to get some canola planted, Coleman said.
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