Typical Canola Rotation
As an alternative to winter wheat, canola fits perfectly into a three crop rotation. Due to their growing seasons, corn, canola, and soybeans can be grown in succession with enough time to comfortably harvest one crop and plant the next.
A typical rotation including canola in the Mid South starts with corn, which is planted in late April and harvested in late August – early September. Canola planting follows between September 15th and October 15th. While canola is typically grown in place of winter wheat, its harvest window is during the last half of May. Since this is a few weeks earlier than wheat harvest, farm labor benefits from being spread out. Harvest typically finishes in late May, just in time for soybean planting in June.
Adding canola to your rotation serves to diversify the sources of farm revenue, reduce strain on labor resources, and produce three marketable crops in a short period of time. The Mid South region is perfectly suited for growing canola, and we hope you will consider incorporating this crop when planning out your rotation.