Oklahoma State University - Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center
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FAPC helps first Oklahoma canola crushing facility
STILLWATER, Okla. – The Food & Agricultural Products Center, located on the Oklahoma State University campus, is helping an entrepreneur develop the first canola crushing facility in Oklahoma.
Prairie Gold Oil Seeds, founded by Wayne Janzen of Okeene, Okla., recently had a groundbreaking ceremony for its canola processing facility in Okeene, Okla.
“In January of this year, Janzen came to the FAPC to discuss his plans for putting a canola seed processing facility in Oklahoma,” said Nurhan Dunford, FAPC oil/oilseed chemist. “Various oilseed processing techniques were discussed and the FAPC provided him the contact information for equipment manufacturers and engineering firms in the field.”
A few months after meeting with the FAPC, Janzen founded his company.
During the groundbreaking, Janzen thanked local financial institutes, his community and the FAPC for the tremendous help and support provided to his project.
A number of dignitaries, including Sen. Jim Inhoff, Roger Ediger of Ediger and Ediger Farms and an FAPC Industry Advisory Committee member and the mayor of Okeene, Okla., attended the ceremony.
“It is expected that the processing facility will be operational toward the end of this year,” Dunford said. “Janzen has been very focused on his goal and was able to get to the construction stage of a canola processing facility within a few months.”
Working with Janzen is just one of the canola projects the FAPC has been involved.
The OKanola project, initiated by a group of extension faculty and staff at Oklahoma State University, is looking at canola as an alternative rotation crop for the state. Traditionally, canola is grown in the northern part of the United States and in Canada.
New canola varieties have been developed to fit Oklahoma’s climate during the last 10 years, Dunford said. Roundup Ready, Wichita and Sumner varieties have been grown in northwest Oklahoma for the last few years.
“It is estimated that about 20,000 acres were planted with canola in Oklahoma this year,” she said. “This number is expected to increase to 50,000 acres next year.”
Recently, Oklahoma State and Kansas State universities signed an agreement to collaborate on canola research.
Dunford said this program has been very successful in promoting canola as a rotational crop to winter wheat, and there are several initiatives involving canola production and processing in Oklahoma.
A group of faculty members within the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the FAPC also are working with Oklahoma Farmers and Ranchers Energy Enterprise, or OKFREE, on a feasibility study supported by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that involves construction of a canola crushing and/or biodiesel production facility in Oklahoma.
Another canola processing/biodiesel production initiative is led by Blue Sun Energy Partners Oklahoma, LLC.
This group is planning to put a biodiesel production and oilseed production facility in Enid, Okla.
The plant would initially process 300 tons per day of canola seed into 8 million gallons of oil. Biodiesel production capacity would be 28 million gallons/year.
“I believe entrepreneurs like Mr. Janzen, co-operatives run by farmers and private companies working together with communities are essential to create a momentum for development and expansion of a value-added product manufacturing industry in Oklahoma,” Dunford said. “It is very exciting to see that the FAPC is part of these efforts and contributing to the momentum for value-added product development.”
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CONTACT:
Nurhand Dunford
Oil/Oilseed Chemist
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center
148 FAPC
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-6071
Fax: 405-744-6313
E-Mail: nurhan.dunford@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local Governments Cooperating. The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, or status as a veteran, and is an equal opportunity employer.
