Canadian canola growers are expected to plant just under 17 million acres in 2010. The AdFarm Alberta Farm will be counted among those acres with our crop of InVigor® hybrid canola.

Our crop will be grown again this year on Graham Farms, located near Vulcan, Alberta. Last year’s crop of field peas yielded approximately 20 bushels/acre, which is considered average. The crop was just marketed and we’ll know the results in the next week.

Due to unfavorable conditions during the last two weeks of April, seeding has been delayed by at least two weeks.

“We were finally able to get the wheels turning this week,” says Ben Graham, who farms with his parents on their 100 year old farm. “We usually like to get the crop in the last week of April but with the snow we’ve had it’s been impossible to get into the fields.”

We’ve chosen to grow InVigor 5440 this year because of its strong agronomic characteristics – early germination, strong vigor and the ability to grow under severe environmental conditions. InVigor 5440 is the top yielding InVigor and is ideally suited the growing conditions on our farm.

Once again AdFarmers have the opportunity to experience a taste of farming by purchasing shares in the farm. So far, 34 AdFarmers have staked their claim.

“The investment is just $25 per share and there’s a maximum of four shares per investor,” explains farm boss Shannon Warren. “Some years we’ve made money, others just broken even. We’re hoping that this year will be on the profitable side.”

This year’s share offering was kicked off at a luncheon held on the AdFarm Calgary patio on Thursday, May 13, which turned out to be the first sunny day of the spring. Joining us was Simone Demers Collins,
Market Development & Promotions Coordinator with the Alberta Canola Producers Commission.

In her work with chefs and food service professionals across Canada and in the United States, Simone has been tirelessly promoting the nutritional value of using Canadian canola oil in cooking and deep frying.

“We’re seeing more restaurants recognizing the versatility and affordability of using canola oil but there’s still a lot of work to do to convince chefs that canola oil is a healthier alternative to the more expensive cooking oils,” says Simone.

Stay tuned for more information on seeding and the progress of our canola crop.

Did you know?  When you use canola oil to make a salad dressing or marinade, it won’t thicken or get cloudy when refrigerated.

Do you know of any other benefits of canola oil?