02/15/04  Changes in mustard production

02/15/04 Changes in mustard production

Farm and Ranch February 15, 2005 Canadian plant breeders have genetically modified oriental mustard or brassica juncea, to produce canola oil University of Idaho oilseed breeder Jack Brown, believes that because brassica juncea outyields traditional mustard in Canada, and because the Canadian government and oil crushers want more canola for crushing, Canada might just drop traditional mustards to increase its canola base. Brown: "If that is the case, it is a wonderful situation for us here, because we actually in the PNW produce the best quality mustard. We are more environmentally suited for these crops than the Canadians are. As we have a better opportunity to produce a higher quality product than the Canadians, I think there's a chance that we can take not only the U.S. acreage in mustards away from the Canadians, but also to take a potential big export portion that the Canadians have to Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, where they actually like the hot spiced mustard types we grow so well in this area." Brown says Canadian mustard acreage has been around 750-thousand to 1.2 million acres. He says if the PNW could just pick up 400-thousand to 500-thousand acres of that production it would be a ten-fold increase of the estimated 45-thousand acres of condiment mustard currently produced in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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