Quality of western Canadian canola 2020

Oil content

For Canola, No.1 Canada, the 2020 oil content was 44.1%, which was lower than the 2019 average (44.6%) and the 5-year average of 44.4% (Table 1). The 2020 average canola oil content was on par with 2018 (44.1%), the second lowest oil content average observed over the last 10 years (Figure 9).

Canola, No. 1 Canada samples from Alberta-Peace River showed the highest oil content average at 44.9% when compared to the oil content averages of samples of the same grade from Manitoba and Saskatchewan: 43.3 and 43.8%, respectively (Table 2). The oil content of individual Canola, No.1 Canada samples harvested in 2020 ranged from 38.6% to 49.8% in Manitoba, 34.0% to 50.2% in Saskatchewan and 37.0% to 50.5% in Alberta-Peace River (Table 2).

Oil content for Canola, No. 2 Canada (44.3%) was slightly higher than Canola, No. 1 Canada (44.1%). Oil content for Canola, No. 2 Canada samples from western Canada ranged from 34.4% to 48.0% (Table 2). This year, the oil content averages for Canola, No. 3 Canada and Sample grade are 44.6% and 43.7%, respectively.

Oil content is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. For any known canola variety, hot and dry growing conditions, as opposed to cool conditions, will result in canola seeds with lower oil content. The high numbers of days with temperatures over 30ºC (Figure 5), especially after flowering, and the variability in precipitation (too much in July and not enough in August; Figure 3) would explain the geographic differences in reference to seed oil content.

The mean oil content of commercially clean (CC) canola exports of Canola, No.1 Canada was 43.3% for the December 2020 exports and 43.3% for the August-November 2020 exports (Table 4). The 2020 exports were observed to have similar average oil content in comparison to last year’s shipping season for the CC canola cargoes (43.3%). When compared to oil content from the harvest samples, the CC and the non-commercially clean (NCC) exports of Canola, No.1 Canada had lower oil content averages, due to the dilution from dockage. Harvest samples are completely cleaned (i.e. 0.00% dockage), whereas dockage average for the CC December 2020 exports was 1.59% and 1.71% for the August-November exports (1.75% for last year shipping season; Table 4). Non-Commercially Clean (NCC) exports averaged 3.29% (August to December 2020; Table 4).

Figure 9 – Canola, No. 1 Canada
Oil content of the seed (%, 8.5% moisture)