It's Canola Week!

Canola Week is an annual conference that brings together canola growers, researchers, agronomists, and more as it provides an update on the state of the canola industry in Canada, the latest research, agronomic issues, and cutting-edge innovation.

Canola Council of Canada President and CEO Chris Davison during his opening remarks on Tuesday talked about the importance of moving research into products and know ledge that will move the industry forward.

"To be successful, we need an end-to-end system that can do several things, including commercializing and deploying new products with appropriate speed. Sharing new research findings in effective practical ways and providing canola growers with tools, information, and support they need to do what they do best, which is to produce the best canola in the world."

Davison also talked about some of the changes we see that are opening up new market opportunities for canola in the biofuel industry.

"After ten or so years of collaboration, advocacy, and engagement with organizations here in Canada and in the United States. Canola oil was finally approved for advanced biofuel production under the U.S. EPA renewable fuel standard. This is a tremendously important pathway into a new market that continues to gain traction in the US and elsewhere."

He says we're already seeing the impact of the U.S. EPA decision -- in 2023 we've seen an increase in the volume of canola oil moving into the U.S.

We're also seeing some key changes here at home that they hope will result in a growing domestic market for canola-based bio-fuels as Canada implements its Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR). 

Davison says there are some key things to keep in mind when it comes to the Clean Fuel Regulations.

"It's important to recognize that contrary to some of the narrative out there, the CFR is not a tax. It's a regulation that requires industry to reduce emissions from transportation fuels sold in Canada. The focus and requirements of the CFR are on the fuel industry, not the consumer. It's also important to note that the CFR is technology-neutral. The regulation sets out requirements for emissions reduction, but it doesn't specify the technology that must be used to achieve those reductions. And we know that canola is a proven solution as a low carbon feedstock to help industry meet these challenges."

The Canola Week Conference is normally held in Saskatoon but was moved to Calgary for the first time.

The annual event is set to wrap up on Thursday.