USDA trialing camelina as rotation crop for winter wheat

In Montana, Chengci Chen, a Montana State University associate professor of cropping systems, is working on testing camelina, pea and lentil as possible crop rotations for winter wheat at the Central Agriculture Research Station near Moccasin..  Chen noted that with the USDA requirement that next generation biofuels must be sourced from non food crops and that the production not be in competition with either forage or food crops.

To meet the USDA requirement, Chen has been testing the possibility of using camelina as a rotation crop for wheat as a summer fallow replacement.  Chen has also been working with pea and lentil varieties to see when placed in rotation plans with camelina and winter wheat to test their nitrogen fixing properties.  The work consists of planting, cropping and recording the crop data to make determinations for future plantings, and is ongoing.

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