12/08/08 Contracting for camelina

Farm and Ranch December 8, 2008 Last fall's high wheat prices were a deterrent to those trying to contract with growers to raise the oilseed camelina. Now that wheat prices have fallen it may be a different story. Johnson: "We have already seen here at this meeting a significant increase in interest in getting contracts signed with us." That was Duane Johnson of Great Plains, the Camelina Company, which had an exhibit at the recent Washington Association of Wheat Growers convention. Here's what it's offering. Johnson: "We have shifted now from typically a spring seeded camelina to a fall seeded camelina, which is better adapted to the Pacific Northwest and I think we are going to see yield responses that reflect that. Right now we are offering a 19-cent per pound contract for the first 200-thousand pounds. Eighteen cents a pound thereafter. So you are look at $9.50 a bushel. Should be looking at least at a 20 to 30 bushel yield." Johnson says the 10 to 14 inch rainfall areas of Washington, Oregon and Idaho is where they would really like to contract. Johnson: "We are looking at areas that have basically not had a lot of Sus, the herbicides that are typically used in a lot of our wheat production here. But other than that, that has been about our only constraint. We can go into the higher rainfall areas but we find we are not going to be able to compete real well with some of the high yield wheat crops they have." You can find out more at thecamelinacompany.com I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.