A Growing Opportunity For Mid-South Farmers

Johnston, IA (April 14, 2025) - As Mid-South farmers prepare for soybean planting following their cover crops this spring, a new cropping system and revenue stream with winter canola may be a viable option to consider this fall.

After a successful commercial winter canola pilot season, Pioneer along with partner Bunge Chevron Ag Renewables LLC are pleased with last year’s results and the growing interest from Mid-South farmers for this season and next. This unique partnership offers a seamless path to market with a contracted acres system. Pioneer provides the seed, Bunge assists with the logistics and crushing, and Chevron converts the grain into renewable biofuels. This creates market stability and contract assurances that production from enrolled canola acres will be purchased.

“Before now, farmers did not have a secure path to market for winter canola, but this partnership has opened up new opportunities to prove its success in this region,” Chad Berghoefer, Global Product Director, Biofuels, Corteva said. “This closed-loop system is gaining interest among farmers as it provides them with a whole new cropping system and income stream on fallow ground.”

According to Berghoefer, the program is expanding its footprint, which covers from southern Illinois to northern Alabama and is expected to increase to nearly a million acres in the coming years.

“We also have farmers in southern Illinois participating in the program and we’re seeing great yield and performance results north of the Mid-South region,” Berghoefer said. “The farmers there are very excited since it’s a new market opportunity for them and they have close delivery points in St. Louis, so it’s a good option for southern Illinois folks as well.”

The seamless path to market is just one of the reasons why farmers like Jed Clark are interested in the program. Clark farms in Kentucky where he tried winter canola in 2023-2024 with 500 acres.

“This program has allowed our farm to get more use out of the equipment we have, and it gives us an opportunity to plant more cover crops,” Clark said. “We get an early start and more flexibility with a different winter crop option. Winter canola comes off earlier than wheat, so we can get our soybeans in earlier and hopefully a yield boost from it.”

After a successful first year with the program, Clark increased to 900 acres of winter canola this year. He says it’s been a great experience and is something they’ll include in their operation for years to come.