UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

WASHINGTON, D.C.  20460

OFFICE OF

PREVENTION, PESTICIDES

AND TOXIC SUBSTANCES

January 12, 2007

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT:	Crop Grouping – Part IV:  Analysis of the USDA IR-4 Petition
to Amend the Crop Group Regulation 40 CFR § 180.41 (c) and Commodity
Definitions [40 CFR 180.1 (h)] Related to the New Crop Group 20 Oilseed.
 MRID 467896-01.

FROM:	Bernard A. Schneider, Ph.D., Senior Plant Physiologist

Chemistry and Exposure Branch

Health Effects Division (7509P)

THRU:	William Donovan, Ph.D. and Michael Doherty, Ph.D., Chairpersons

HED Chemistry Science Advisory Council (ChemSAC)

Health Effects Division (7509P)

TO:	Barbara Madden, Minor Use Officer

Risk Integration, Minor Use, and Emergency Response Branch (RIMUERB)

		Registration Division (7505P)

cc: 	IR-4 Project, Hong Chen, Jerry Baron, Dan Kunkel

REQUEST:

	Dr Hong Chen, Crop Grouping Project Coordinator, USDA Interregional
Research Project No. 4 (IR-4), State Agricultural Experiment Station,
Rutgers University has submitted a petition (February 7, 2006) on behalf
of the IR-4 Project, and the Oilseeds Workgroup of the International
Crop Grouping Consulting Committee (ICGCC) to amend the Crop Group
Regulation 40 CFR § 180.41 (c) (20) to amend the crop group 20 for
Oilseeds and the Commodity Definitions 40 CFR 180.1 (h) for rapeseed.

	The above mentioned Oilseed crop group petition requested the following
four amendments:

	1. Add a new crop group to 40 CFR 180.41 (c) as “Oilseeds Group
20”.

	2. Amend the Oilseeds crop group to include the following 27 members:

Borage, Borago officinalis (LINN.) (Boraginaceae)

Castor oil plant, Ricinus communis (LINN.) (Euphorbiaceae)

Chinese tallowtree, (tallowtree; popcorntree; candleberry-tree),
Triadica sebifera (Euphorbiaceae)

Cottonseed, Gossypium arboreum L. (Malvaceae)

Crambe, Crambe hispanica; Crambe abyssinica Hochst. (Brassicaceae)

Cuphea, Cuphea hyssopifolia (Lythraceae)

Euphorbia, Euphorbia esula L. (Euphorbiaceae)

Evening primrose/common, Cenothera biennis (LINN.) (Onagraceae)

Flax seed, Linum usitatissimum (Linaceae)

Gold of pleasure, Camelina sativa (Brassicaceae)

Hare's ear mustard, (hare's-ear cabbage), Conringia orientalis
(Brassicaceae)

Jojoba, Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C.K. Schneider (Simmondsiaceae;
Buxaceae)

Lesquerella, Lesquerella recurvata, (Brassicaceae)

Meadowfoam, Limnanthes alba Benth. (Limnanthacae)

Mustard seed, Brassica hirta, spp. (Brassicaceae)

Niger seed, Guizotia abyssinica (Compositae)

Oil radish (fodder radish), Raphanus sativus var. oleiformis
(Brassicaceae)

Poppy seed, Papaver somniferum L. ssp. somniferum (Papaveraceae)

Rapeseed, Brassica spp.; Brassica napus (Brassicaceae)

Rose hip, Rosa eglanteria (Rosaceae)

Safflower, Carthamus tinctorious (Asteraceae)

Sesame, Sesamum indicum L.; Sesamum radiatum (Pedaliaceae)

Sunflower, Helianthus annus (Asteraceae)

Sweet rocket, (dame's-violet; dame's rocket; damask-violet), Hesperis
matronalis (Brassicaceae)

Tallowwood, (tallow nuts; false sandalwood), Ximenia americana
(Olacaceae)

Tea oil plant, Camellia oleifera (Theaceae)

Vernonia, Vernonia galamensis (Asteraceae)

	3. Amend the representative commodities for the Oilseeds crop group to
be: the following three commodities: “Rapeseed (canola varieties
only); Sunflower, seed; and Cottonseed”.

	4. Establish three new subgroups under the Oilseeds crop group as
follows:

Rapeseed Subgroup (Representative commodity: Rapeseed, canola varieties
only): Borage, Crambe, Cuphea, Flax seed, Gold of pleasure, Hare's-ear
mustard, Lesquerella, Meadowfoam, Mustard seed, Oil radish, Poppy seed,
Rapeseed, Sesame, Sweet rocket.

Sunflower Subgroup (Representative commodity: Sunflower): Castor oil
plant, Chinese tallowtree, Euphorbia, Evening primrose/common, Jojoba,
Niger seed, Rose hip, Safflower, Sunflower, Tallowwood, Tea oil plant,
Vernonia.  And

Cottonseed Subgroup (Representative commodity: Cottonseed): Cottonseed.

Each of these proposals will be reviewed in the following analysis:

BACKGROUND:

	In the last major revisions to the Crop Grouping regulation in 1995,
the Agency received public comments from the California Department of
Agriculture and the Dupont Agricultural Products Company requesting the
Agency to consider adding a new crop group for oilseed commodities.  The
Agency response (Schneider, 1995) stated that new crop groups were
beyond the scope of the 1995 revisions but new crop groups/subgroups
would be considered in the future as part of harmonization efforts with
CODEX and NAFTA.  On July 27, 2000, Dr. Michael Braverman and George
Markle, USDA Interregional Research Project No. 4 (IR-4) submitted a
proposal to amend the Crop Group Regulation (40 CFR § 180.41) to add a
new Crop Group for Oilseeds.  The petition was part of an effort to
harmonize with Canada which has an Oilseed Crop Group in their Crop
Group Regulation (Pest Management Regulatory Agency-PMRA. Residue
Chemistry Guidelines. Section 15. Crop Groups. Regulatory Directive -
Dir. 98-02, 15-41).  The Canadian and U.S. Oilseed Crop Groups differ
only with IR-4 requesting that borage and crambe be added to the group.
Crambe and borage are two very minor oilseed crops which are only about
0.2% and < 0.1 %, respectively of the total acreage of the crops in the
proposed group.

	According to the USDA IR-4, the additional expense to conduct magnitude
of residue studies for these very minor crops is burdensome for the
oilseed commodity industry, because there is no economic incentive for
the research invested.  Letters of support for the establishment of the
oilseed crop group were also submitted by scientists from the North
Dakota State University Department of Plant Sciences.  These letters
discussed the growing importance of oilseed crops as alternative revenue
crops to soybeans and wheat in their state, and also that the oilseed
crops are lacking viable pest control agents.  This crop group proposal
was approved by the HED ChemSAC on July 8, 2002 (Bernard A. Schneider,
Analysis of the proposal to amend the crop group petition by adding new
oilseed crop group, DP Barcode #D272785) and included ten oilseed
commodities listed in Table 1.  In addition to these oilseed crops being
members of Canadian Crop Group 20, they are also classified by CODEX as
Oilseed Crops in their Food and Animal Feed Classification as Group 23.
Therefore, this proposal will not only increase harmonization with the
Canadian Crop Grouping system, but the international system of CODEX.
The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 placed increased emphasis on
using the CODEX maximum residue limits (MRLs) in establishing U.S.
tolerances for pesticides.  Future considerations for oilseed crop
subgroups would be considered in future crop grouping petitions.

Table 1.  Oilseed Crop Group Commodities that were approved by the US
EPA HED ChemSAC on July 8, 2002.

	This proposal by IR-4 is to amend the 40 CFR 180.41 by adding a new
Crop Group 20: Oilseed Crops - Commodities as listed below:

Crop Group 20.  Oilseed Crop Group.

Representative commodities.  Rapeseed (edible Canola oilseed varieties)
and Sunflower.

The following is a list of all the commodities included in Crop Group
20:

Common Name	Scientific Name

Rapeseed 	Brassica napus var. napus

Rapeseed, Indian	Brassica rapa ssp. oleifera

Mustard seed, Black	Brassica nigra

Mustard seed, Indian	Brassica juncea var. juncea

Mustard seed, Field	Brassica rapa ssp. trilocularis

Flax, Linseed	Linum usitatissimum

Sunflower seed	Helianthus annuus

Safflower	Carthamus tinctorius

Crambe seed	Crambe abyssinica

Borage seed	Borage officinalis

During the USDA/IR-4 Crop Grouping Symposium in Washington, DC, October
2002, the Oilseeds Workgroup, Chaired by IR-4 Coordinator Frederick
Salzman and Co-Chaired by Felicia Fort and William Smith, EPA, and Rich
Zollinger, North Dakota State University recommended adding over 60
oilseeds commodities to the oilseeds group.  Among those commodities
proposed, some are tropical or subtropical fruits, tree nuts or
ornamental species, and some are primarily used as food or ornamentals
other than oilseeds, such as macadamia nut, apricot, pistachio, and
coconut and other palms.  The recommendations from the Symposium was
further discussed and developed within the Oilseeds Workgroup of the
International Crop Grouping Consulting Committee (ICGCC), which consists
of more than 180 U.S. and international crop or regulatory experts from
agriculture commodity groups, universities, agrichemical industry, IR-4
Project, and regulatory agencies representing over 40 countries.

Oilseed Crop Definition:

	Oilseeds include those crops from which oil is extracted from their
seed and used to produce edible or inedible oils as well as a
high-protein livestock meal.  Oils may be extracted from plants by
applying pressure to the seed, or by dissolving parts of the plants in
water or another solvent, and distilling the oil, or by infusing parts
of the plant in base oil.  The oilseeds are primarily soybeans,
sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, flax seed, or castor bean,
mustard seed, peanut and cottonseed, used for the production of cooking
oils, protein meals for livestock and industrial uses.  For purposes of
the Agricultural Market Transition Act, oilseeds refer to soybeans,
sunflower seed, flax seed, safflower seed, rapeseed, canola, mustard
seed, and "other" oilseeds as designated by the USDA (Hoffman, 1996).
There are also many crops that are a source of oil such as various tree
nuts such as pecan, almond, macadamia, hazelnut, and walnut; tropical
crops such as palm and coconut, vegetable and fruits such as pumpkin and
avocado, apricot, and grape seed.  The two major world oilseed crops are
soybean that is grown on over 91 million hectares and cottonseed that is
grown on over 31 million hectares.  However, for purposes of this
oilseed crop group various oilseeds were not included in this analysis
because the ICGCC felt that they better fit within other crop groups
such as walnut oil in the Tree nut crop group 14, corn oil in the Cereal
grain crop group 16, palm oil in a tropical oil crop group, and soybean
oil and peanut oil in the Legume vegetable crop group 6.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

	Each of the four proposals and recommendations will be discussed below,
followed by a series of other recommendations on terminology, database
development, and harmonization with CODEX.  The EPA would like to
commend the valuable and high quality input of the ICGCC, all its
members, leader, and the Workgroup Chairperson.

IR-4 Proposal 1:

“Add a new crop group to 40 CFR § 180.41 (c) as Oilseeds Group”.

HED Recommendation for Proposal 1:

	I recommend that ChemSAC concur to amend the Crop Group Regulation [40
CFR 180.41 (c)] to establish a new crop group for Oilseeds.  The name of
the new crop group will be Oilseed group 20.  Oilseeds include those
crops from which oil is extracted from their seed and used to produce
edible or inedible oils as well as a high-protein livestock meal and are
primarily soybeans, sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, flax
seed, castor bean, mustard seed, peanut and cottonseed, used for the
production of cooking oils, protein meals for livestock and industrial
uses.  There are also many crops that are a source of oil such as
various tree nuts such as pecan, almond, macadamia, hazelnut, and
walnut; tropical crops such as palm and coconut, vegetable and fruits
such as pumpkin and avocado, apricot, and grape seed.  The two major
world oilseed crops are soybean that is grown on over 91 million
hectares and cottonseed that is grown on over 31 million hectares.
However, for purposes of this oilseed crop group various oilseeds were
not included in this analysis because the ICGCC felt that they better
fit within other crop groups such as walnut oil in the Tree nut crop
group 14, corn oil in the Cereal grain crop group 16, palm oil in a
tropical oil crop group, and soybean oil and peanut oil in the Legume
vegetable crop group 6.

IR-4 Proposal 2.

	2. Amend the Oilseeds crop group to include the following 27 members:

Borage, Borago officinalis (LINN.) (Boraginaceae)

Castor oil plant, Ricinus communis (LINN.) (Euphorbiaceae)

Chinese tallowtree, (tallowtree; popcorntree; candleberry-tree),
Triadica sebifera (Euphorbiaceae)

Cottonseed, Gossypium arboreum L. (Malvaceae)

Crambe, Crambe hispanica; Crambe abyssinica Hochst. (Brassicaceae)

Cuphea, Cuphea hyssopifolia (Lythraceae)

Euphorbia, Euphorbia esula L. (Euphorbiaceae)

Evening primrose/common, Cenothera biennis (LINN.) (Onagraceae)

Flax seed, Linum usitatissimum (Linaceae)

Gold of pleasure, Camelina sativa (Brassicaceae)

Hare's ear mustard, (hare's-ear cabbage), Conringia orientalis
(Brassicaceae)

Jojoba, Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C.K. Schneider (Simmondsiaceae;
Buxaceae)

Lesquerella, Lesquerella recurvata, (Brassicaceae)

Meadowfoam, Limnanthes alba Benth. (Limnanthacae)

Mustard seed, Brassica hirta, spp. (Brassicaceae)

Niger seed, Guizotia abyssinica (Compositae)

Oil radish (fodder radish), Raphanus sativus var. oleiformis
(Brassicaceae)

Poppy seed, Papaver somniferum L. ssp. somniferum (Papaveraceae)

Rapeseed, Brassica spp.; Brassica napus (Brassicaceae)

Rose hip, Rosa eglanteria (Rosaceae)

Safflower, Carthamus tinctorious (Asteraceae)

Sesame, Sesamum indicum L.; Sesamum radiatum (Pedaliaceae)

Sunflower, Helianthus annus (Asteraceae)

Sweet rocket, (dame's-violet; dame's rocket; damask-violet), Hesperis
matronalis (Brassicaceae)

Tallowwood, (tallow nuts; false sandalwood), Ximenia americana
(Olacaceae)

Tea oil plant, Camellia oleifera (Theaceae)

      27.  Vernonia, Vernonia galamensis (Asteraceae)

HED Recommendation for Proposal 2:

	Based on similarities in cultural practices, edible food and animal
feed portions, residue levels, geographical location, pest problems, and
international harmonization purposes, I recommend that ChemSAC concur to
amend and establish a new Crop Group 20 - Oilseed Crops.  The
representative commodities for the Oilseed Crop Group will be rapeseed
(canola varieties only), sunflower, and cottonseed.  In addition to the
IR-4 oilseed crop group proposal with 27 commodities, HED is
recommending to add four others commodities that meet the oilseed
criteria to the group.  The four commodities are: echium, lunaria,
milkweed, and stokes aster.  Lunaria, milkweed, and stokes aster, as
well as several of the other minor oilseeds such as cuphea, meadowfoam,
and lesquerella are being researched by the USDA Agricultural Research,
New Crops and Processing Technology Research Unit, National Center for
Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Illinois, and the Food and
Industrial Crops Research Unit.  These groups are identifying
alternative oilseed crops for food and industrial uses and generating
market demand by developing new uses and by improving the quality and
functionality of these vegetable oils

Borage, Borago officinalis (L.) (Boraginaceae)

Castor oil plant, Ricinus communis (L.) (Euphorbiaceae)

Chinese tallowtree, Triadica sebifera (L.) Small (Euphorbiaceae)

Cottonseed, Gossypium spp. (Malvaceae)

Crambe, Crambe hispanica L.; Crambe abyssinica Hochst. ex R.E. Fr.
(Brassicaceae)

Cuphea, Cuphea hyssopifolia Kunth (Lythraceae)

Echium, Echium plantagineum L (Boraginaceae)

Euphorbia, Euphorbia esula L. (Euphorbiaceae)

Evening primrose, Oenothera biennis (L.) (Onagraceae)

Flax seed, Linum usitatissimum L. (Linaceae)

Gold of pleasure, Camelina sativa L. Crantz (Brassicaceae)

Hare's ear mustard, Conringia orientalis Dumort. (Brassicaceae)

Jojoba, Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C.K. Schneid. (Simmondsiaceae;
Buxaceae)

Lesquerella, Lesquerella recurvata (Engelm. ex A. Gray) S. Watson
(Brassicaceae)

Lunaria, Lunaria annua L., (Brassicaceae)

Meadowfoam, Limnanthes alba Hartw. Ex Benth. (Limnanthacae)

Milkweed, Asclepias spp. L. (Asclepiadaceae, subfamily Apocynaceae)

Mustard seed, Brassica hirta, spp. (Brassicaceae)

Niger seed, Guizotia abyssinica (L.f.) Cass. (Asteraceae)

Oil radish, Raphanus sativus var. oleiformis Pers.(Brassicaceae)

Poppy seed, Papaver somniferum L. subsp. somniferum (Papaveraceae)

Rapeseed, Brassica spp.; Brassica napus L. (Brassicaceae)

Rose hip, Rosa rubiginosa L. (Rosaceae)

Safflower, Carthamus tinctorious L. (Asteraceae)

Sesame, Sesamum indicum L.; Sesamum radiatum Schumach. & Thonn.
(Pedaliaceae)

Stokes aster, Stokesia laevis (Hill) Greene (Asteraceae)

Sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. (Asteraceae)

Sweet rocket, Hesperis matronalis L. (Brassicaceae)

Tallowwood, Ximenia americana L. (Olacaceae)

Tea oil plant, Camellia oleifera C. Abel (Theaceae)

Vernonia, Vernonia galamensis (Cass.) Less. (Asteraceae)

IR-4 Proposal 3:

“Select the following three commodities as representative crops for
Oilseeds Group: Rapeseed (canola varieties only); Sunflower, seed; and
Cottonseed”.

HED Recommendation for Proposal 3:

	I recommend we concur to adopt rapeseed (canola varieties only);
sunflower, seed; and cottonseed as the representative commodities for
the Oilseed crop group 20.  The representative commodities, except for
cottonseed are identical to those approved by the HED ChemSAC on July 8,
2002 (Analysis of the proposal to amend the crop group petition by
adding new oilseed crop group, B. Schneider).  The representative
commodities are based on whether the seeds such as sunflower are
partially exposed to pesticides applied during the growing season, or
like rapeseed (canola varieties) completely enclosed in pod-like
capsules (see Figure 1 for a picture of a canola seed pod), as well as
their high production (both acres and yield) and consumption.
Cottonseed is also selected as the warm season oilseed crop as well as
being in a separate subgroup.  These three representative commodities
account for > 95 % of the harvested acres for the Oilseed crop group.

IR-4 Proposals 4A, 4B, and 4C.:

“Establish three new subgroups under the Oilseeds crop group as
follows:

Rapeseed Subgroup (Representative commodity: Rapeseed, canola varieties
only): Fourteen commodities proposed in this subgroup are: Borage,
Crambe, Cuphea, Flax seed, Gold of pleasure, Hare's ear mustard,
Lesquerella, Meadowfoam, Mustard seed, Oil radish, Poppy seed, Rapeseed,
Sesame, Sweet rocket.

Sunflower Subgroup (Representative commodity: Sunflower): Twelve
commodities proposed in this subgroup are: Castor oil plant, Chinese
tallowtree, Euphorbia, Evening primrose/common, Jojoba, Niger seed, Rose
hip, Safflower, Sunflower, Tallowwood, Tea oil plant, Vernonia.  And

Cottonseed Subgroup (Representative commodity: Cottonseed): One
commodity proposed in this subgroup are: Cottonseed.”

HED Recommendation for Proposal 4A – Rapeseed subgroup 20A:

Rapeseed Subgroup 20A (Representative commodity: Rapeseed, canola
varieties only):

	I recommend that ChemSAC concur to establish three new subgroups, and
the first subgroup will be the Rapeseed subgroup 20A with rapeseed,
canola varieties only being the representative commodity.

	The members of this subgroup are all like the representative commodity
rapeseed (canola varieties) in that the seeds are completely enclosed in
pods or pod-like capsules.  The members are the same as those proposed
by USDA IR-4 and include these other three commodities: echium, lunaria,
and milkweed.

	The eighteen members of this subgroup include:

Borage, Crambe, Cuphea, Echium, Flax seed, Gold of pleasure, Hare's-ear
mustard, Lesquerella, Lunaria, Meadowfoam, Milkweed, Mustard seed, Oil
radish, Poppy seed, Rapeseed, Sesame, Stokes aster, and Sweet rocket.

HED Recommendation for Proposal 4B – Sunflower subgroup 20B:

Sunflower Subgroup 20B (Representative commodity: Sunflower):

	I recommend that ChemSAC concur to establish the Sunflower subgroup 20B
with sunflower being the representative commodity.

	The members of this subgroup are all similar to the representative
commodity sunflower based on whether the seeds are partially exposed to
pesticides applied during the growing season.  The members are the same
as those proposed by USDA IR-4 and include one other commodity stokes
aster.

	The thirteen members of this subgroup include:

Castor oil plant, Chinese tallowtree, Euphorbia, Evening primrose,
Jojoba, Niger seed, Rose hip, Safflower, Stokes aster, Sunflower,
Tallowwood, Tea oil plant, and Vernonia.

Recommendation for Proposal 4C – Cottonseed subgroup 20C:

Cottonseed Subgroup (Representative commodity: Cottonseed): Cottonseed.

	The representative commodity cottonseed is ties are based on many
different species of cotton (Gossypium spp.) all having the seeds in a
pod-like structure called a boll, as well as being a warm season crop,
with a similar geographical distribution and high food consumption.
There are over 55 separate species in the Gossypium genus, and include
many types that can be hybridized with other species, so the scientific
name for cotton will be Gossypium spp.  Cotton is also a member of the
Malvaceae family and while having only one commodity in the subgroup it
is made up of many cotton species with unique botanical properties, and
members of this family have a capsular fruit.  The establishment of the
subgroup allows options for adding other Malvaceae family members that
will be developed like cotton or hybridized with cotton.  For example,
the Plants for a Future Database (  HYPERLINK
"http://www.pfaf.org/index.html"  http://www.pfaf.org/index.html )
considers one member of the Malvaceae called marsh mallow (Althea
officinalis L.) as a potential oilseed for industrial use as well as a
medicinal herb.  Also by being a member of a crop group, cotton can take
advantage of a 25% field trial reduction.

Additional HED Recommendations/Conclusions:

Recommendation 5:

The EPA commodity definition [40 CFR180.1 (h)] for “Rapeseed =
Brassica napus, B. campestris and Crambe absyssinica (oilseed-producing
varieties only which include canola and crambe” does not need to be
revised except that the scientific names need to be updated.

Recommendation 6:

Guidance for HED SOP 99.6 -  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1  “Classification of
Food Forms with Respect to Level of Blending” issued August 20, 1999,
and HED SOP 2000.1 – “  SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Guidance for Translation
of Field Trial Data from Representative Commodities in the Crop Group
Regulation to Other Commodities in Each Crop Group/Subgroup” issued
September 12, 2000 can be updated to reflect the establishment of the
Oilseed crop group 20.

Recommendation 7:

Guidance on expressing tolerance terminology for the Oilseed crop group
20 and the three proposed subgroups (Rapeseed subgroup 20A; Sunflower
subgroup 20B; and the Cottonseed crop group 20C) are discussed under the
“Tolerance expression guidance section of this analysis.

Recommendation 8:

	The Health Effects Division Dry Matter and Seeding Rate Database
prepared by Dr’s. NG and B. A. Schneider, was updated on June 2006 in
Table 25 for the Oilseed Crop Group .

Recommendation 9:

New lookup and preferred EPA terms for the members of the Oilseed crop
group are listed in the EPA Food and Feed Commodity Vocabulary section
of this report and these terms should be added to the updated EPA Food
and Feed Commodity Vocabulary website.

ANALYSIS OF THE USDA IR-4 PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A NEW OILSEED CROP GROUP

BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PROPOSED COMMODITIES:

	The 16 plant families for the 31 proposed members of the Oilseed Crop
Group include the following:

	Asclepiadaceae, Milkweed

	Asteraceae, Sunflower, safflower, stokes aster, Niger seed, vernonia,

	Boraginaceae, Borage seed, echium.

	Brassicaceae, Rapeseed, mustard, gold of pleasure, hare's-ear mustard,
lesquerella,

			lunaria, oil radish, sweet rocket, and crambe,

	Euphorbiaceae, Castor oil plant, Chinese tallowtree, euphorbia,

	Limnanthacae, Meadowfoam

	Linaceae, Flax,

	Lythraceae, Cuphea

	Malvaceae, Cottonseed

	Olacaceae, Tallowwood

	Onagraceae, Evening primrose

	Papaveraceae, Poppy seed

	Pedaliaceae, Sesame

	Rosaceae, Rose hip

	Simmondsiacea; Buxacae, Jojoba

	And

	Theaceae, Tea oil plant

	The main oilseed families for this crop group are the Brassicaceae
which includes rapeseed and eight other members and the Asteraceae,
which includes sunflower and four other commodities, the Euphorbiaceae,
which includes the castor oil plant and two other commodities, the
Boraginaceae which includes , borage seed and echium, and several others
such as the Asclepiadaceae, Limnanthacae, Linaceae, Lythraceae,
Malvaceae, Olacaceae, Onagraceae, Papaveraceae, Pedaliaceae, Rosaceae,
Simmondsiacea; Buxacae, and the Theaceae that include one commodity.

	Utilization of all these oilseed crops is similar in that they are
grown for their oil, seed and meal.  Borage, castor oil plant,
cottonseed, cuphea, echium, evening primrose, flax, gold of pleasure,
hare’s ear mustard, milkweed, mustard, oil radish, poppy seed,
rapeseed canola varieties, safflower, sesame, sunflower, and tea oil
plant are used to produce edible oils, while crambe, Chinese tallowtree,
euphorbia, jojoba, lesquerella, lunaria, meadowfoam, rose hip, stokes
aster, tallowwood, and non-canola rapeseed are generally used for
industrial purposes.

	The seeds from these oilseeds fall basically into two groups based on
whether the seeds are partially exposed to pesticides applied during the
growing season or whether they are completely enclosed in pod-like
capsules.  Sunflower, borage, and safflower seeds are partially exposed
to pesticides applied during the growing season, while flax, crambe,
mustard, and rapeseed are completely enclosed in pod-like capsules.
Therefore, one of the representative commodities for the oilseed crop
group would be sunflowers based on the seeds being partially exposed to
the pesticides, its high production (both acres and yield) and
consumption.  The second representative commodity would be canola based
on the seeds being completely enclosed that protect them from being
fully exposed to pesticide applications and its high production (both
acres and yield) and consumption.  The third subgroup will be for cotton
which is seeds form in a unique pod or boll, and based on its high
production and possibility of additional members of the Malvaceae
family.  See the recommendations for Proposal 4A – Rapeseed subgroup
20A; proposal 4B – Sunflower subgroup 20B; and proposal 4C –
Cottonseed subgroup 20C for a list of members for each of the subgroups.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE OILSEED CROPS

	Understanding how the oilseed crops grow and develop is a key part of
developing a pest control strategy for optimum oilseed yield and quality
and a helpful reference for analysis of residue field trials by EPA
scientists.  Proper timing of pesticide applications, based on crop
growth stage and pest growth cycle can improve a product’s efficacy
and prevent crop injury and yield losses.  Pesticide labels often use
crop growth stages and codes to identify when to apply a pesticide.
Some of the recognized growth stages for the following oilseed crops
rapeseed (oilseed rape or canola), sunflower, cotton, and safflower are
discussed in the below Tables.

	The developmental stages for the rapeseed canola varieties (adapted
from Meier, 2001, Sylvester-Bradley, 1984, Lancashire, 1991) are shown
in Table 2 and in Table 3 (adapted ND States University, 2004), the
sunflower in Table 4 (adapted from Meier, 2001, Lancashire, 1991) and
Table 5 (Schneiter and Miller, 1981), cotton in Table 6 (adapted from .
Meier, 2001, Hutmacher, 2002) and growth and development of cotton in
Table 7 (adapted from Wright and Sprenkel, 2005 and Hutmacher, 2002),
and safflower in Table 8 (adapted from University Calif. Dept. Agronomy
and Range Science, 2000).

Table 2.  Selected Growth Stages of Oilseed Rape (Canola Varieties)
Using BBCH Identification Codes (Adapted from Sylvester-Bradley, 1984,
Lancashire, 1991, Harper and Berkenkamp, 1975, Meier, 2001).

BBCH Code 	Growth Stage	General Description

00 	Seed planted	Germination and emergence (00 – 09)

05	Radicle emerged from root

	09	Cotyledons emerge from the soil	Emergence occurs 4 – 10 days after
seeding

10	Cotyledons completely emerged	Leaf development (10 – 19)

11	First leaf unfolded	First true leaves develop 4 – 8 days after
emergence.

19	Nine or more leaves unfolded

	30	Beginning of stem elongation	Stem elongation (30 – 39)

39	Nine or more visibly extended internodes

	50	Flower buds present but still enclosed by leaves	Inflorescence
emergence

(50 – 59)

59	First petals present, flower buds still closed	Vegetative stage from
seedling to first bud cluster for B. napus ranges from 40 – 60 days.

60	First flowers open 	Flowering (60 – 69)

65	Full flowering, 50% flowers open older petals falling	Flowering
continues from 4 – 21 days.

69	End of flowering

	71	10 % of pods reach final stage	Fruit Development (71 – 79)

79	Nearly all pods have reached final stage

	80	Beginning of ripening seed green and pod cavity is filling	Ripening
(80 – 89).  Seed fill is complete in 35 – 45 days after flower
initiation.

85	50 % of the pods are ripe, seeds are dark and hard

	89	Fully ripe nearly all pods are ripe and seeds are dark and hard

	97	Plant dry and dead	Senescence (91 – 99)

99	Harvested product	Spring varieties of B. napus mature in 85 – 110
days after planting.

Table 3.  Canola Five Principal Growth Stages Developed in Canada.  (ND
State University Extension Service ProCrop
(http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/procrop/rps/growth06.htm).

Canola Growth Stages

Stage

Description of main flowering raceme

0 Pre-emergence

1 Seedling

2 Rosette

2.1 First true leaf expanded

2.2 Second true leaf expanded

2.3 Continue for each additional leaf

3 Bud

3.2 Flower cluster visible at center of rosette

3.3 Lower buds yellowing

4 Flower

4.1 First flower open

4.2 Many flowers opened, lower pods elongating

4.3 Lower pods starting to fill

4.4 Flowering is complete, seed enlarging in lower pods. Flowering
continues from 14 to 21 days.

5 Ripening

5.1 Seeds in lower pods full size, translucent

5.2 Seeds in lower pods green

5.3 Seeds in lower pods green-brown or green-yellow mottled (1)

5.4 Seeds in lower pods yellow or brown (1)   Seed filling the pod is
complete after 35 – 40 days after flowers open.  Mature pods contain
15 to 40 seeds.  After 40 – 60 days after first flower the seeds in
the lower pods have ripened and fully changed color.

5.5 Seeds in all pods are brown, plant dead.  Average seed moisture is
30 -35%.  Mature pods are easily split along the center membrane and the
seed is lost.

(1). Canola in the 5.3 to early 5.4 stages should be near or at swathing
stage. These stages change very rapidly during the ripening period if
temperatures are warm and under dry conditions.

Table 4.  Selected Growth Stages of Sunflower Using BBCH Identification
Codes (Meier, 2001, Lancashire, 1991).

BBCH Code 	Growth Stage	General Description

00 	Seed planted	Germination and emergence (00 – 09)

05	Radicle emerged from root

	09	Cotyledons emerge from the soil

	10	Cotyledons completely emerged and unfolded	Leaf development (10 –
19)

12	Two leaves unfolded

	19	Nine or more leaves unfolded

	30	Beginning of stem elongation	Stem elongation (30 – 39)

39	Nine or more visibly extended internodes

	51	Inflorescence just visible between younger leaves	Inflorescence
emergence

(51 – 59)

59	Ray florets visible between the bracts, flower still closed

	61	Beginning of flowering 	Flowering (61 – 69)

65	Full flowering

	69	End of flowering

	71	Seeds on outer edge of the inflorescence are grey and have reached
final size	Fruit Development (71 – 79)

79	Seeds on inner third of the inflorescence are grey and have reached
final size

	80	Beginning of ripening seed on outer third of anthocarp are black and
hard	Ripening (80 – 89)

85	Seeds on middle third of anthocarp are black and hard, yellow bracts
are brown and seeds about 60 % dry matter

	89	Fully ripe, seeds on inner third of anthocarp are dark and hard, and
seeds about 85 % dry matter

	92	Seeds over 90 % dry matter	Senescence (92 – 99)

99	Harvested product

Table 5.  Selected Growth Stages of Sunflower Developed by North Dakota
State University Extension Service (Schneiter and Miller, 1981).

Stage Designation	Growth Stage Name	General Description

VE	Vegetative Emergence	Seedling has emerged; first leaf beyond the
cotyledon is < 4 cm long.

V – 1	Vegetative Stages	Stage determined by counting the number of
true leaves at least 4 cm in length.  Stage numbers in order V - 1, V -
2, V - 3, etc.).

R – 1	Reproductive Stages	Terminal bud forms a miniature floral head.

R - 3

The immature bud elongates more than 2 cm above the nearest leaf.

R – 4

The inflorescence begins to open. Immature ray flowers are visible.

R – 5.1, - 2, etc.

Beginning of flowering. The stage can be divided into substages
dependent upon the percent of the head area (disk flowers) that is
completed or is in flowering. Ex. R – 5.3 (30%).

R – 6

Flowering is complete and the ray flowers are wilting.

R – 7

The back of the head has started to turn a pale yellow.

R – 8

The back of the head is yellow and flower bracts are still green.

R – 9

The bract becomes yellow and brown.  The back of the sunflower head may
turn brown.  This stage is physiological maturity.

Table 6.  Selected Growth Stages of Cotton Using BBCH Identification
Codes and Growth Stage Dates in Missouri (Albers, 1993, Meier, 2001,
Hutmacher, 2002).

BBCH Code 	Growth Stage	General Description

00 	Seed planted	Germination and emergence (00 – 09). May 1.

05	Radicle emerged from root

	09	Cotyledons emerge from the soil “crook stage”	May 12.

10	Cotyledons completely emerged and unfolded	Leaf development (10 –
19)

12	Two leaves unfolded

	19	Nine or more leaves unfolded

	31	Beginning of crop cover, 10 % of plants meet between rows	Main stem
elongation (31 – 39)

39	Canopy closure, 90 % of the plants meet between rows

	51	First floral buds detectable “pin head stage”	Inflorescence
emergence

(51 – 59)  In San Joaquin Valley time from emergence to first square
ranges from 35 to 55 days June 17.

59	Petals visible, floral buds still closed

	60	First flowers open 	Flowering (60 – 69).  In San Joaquin Valley
time from emergence to first bloom ranges from 60 to 82 days. July 6.

65	Full flowering, “mid bloom” 	In San Joaquin Valley time from
emergence to full bloom ranges from 82 to 95 days.

69	End of flowering, flowers faded

	71	About 10 % of the bolls have attained their final size	Fruit and
seed development

(71 – 79). August 20.

79	About 90 % of the bolls have attained their final size

	80	First open bolls on the fruiting branches	Ripening of fruit and
seeds

(80 – 89).  In San Joaquin Valley time from emergence to first open
boll ranges from 120 to 145 days.

85	About 50 % of bolls open	In San Joaquin Valley time from emergence to
60% open bolls ranges from 155 to 185 days.

89	About 90 % of the bolls open

	91	About 10 % of the leaves discolored or fallen 	Senescence (91 –
99)

95	About 50 % of the leaves discolored or fallen

	99	Harvested product bolls and seeds	September 21.

Table 7. Typical Growth and Development of a Cotton Plant (Adapted from
Wright and Sprenkel, 2005, Kohel, 1984,  and Hutmacher, 2002)*.

Growth Stages	Time Required (Range of Days)	Average Time Required (Days)

Planting to emergence 	5 - 14	7

Planting to first true leaf	13 – 30	21

Emerge to first square 	35 - 55	45

Emerge to first bloom or flower	60 - 82	68

Pinhead square to white flower 	20 - 35	23

White flower to pink flower	1	1

Pink flower to open boll	50 - 60	55

Emerge to first open boll	115 - 145	130

Emerge to 60% open boll	155 - 185	165

(*) The number of days can vary by variety and daytime temperatures.

Table 8.  Selected Growth Stages of Safflower (University Calif. Dept.
Agronomy and Range Science, 2000).

Safflower Growth Stage	Days Since Emergence

Emergence	0

Rosette – Leaves are Flat to Ground	30

Stem Elongation –Bud Formation	50

Initial Branching – Flowering Petal Formation – Plant 8 – 15 in
tall	62

Full Branching – Stamen, Pistil, and Pollen Formation	75

Flowering – Plant height from 18 in to 5 ft. 	100

Seed Mature	150

U.S./NAFTA AND WORLD PRODUCTION AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE
OILSEEED COMMODITIES:

	Proposed members of the oilseed crop group find widespread distribution
throughout the world.  Table 9 provides a list of the hectares and
production from countries that grow linseed (flaxseed), mustard seed,
rapeseed, safflower seed, sesame seed, and sunflower seed in 2004, while
Table 10 has world production and yield/hectare for cottonseed in
2003/2004.  The most widely grown oilseed worldwide is cottonseed at
31,222,000 hectares and 35,532,000 Mt, followed by rapeseed (canola
varieties) on over 26, 400,000 ha and 46,255,508 Mt, then sunflower seed
on 21,436,397 ha and 26,108,358 Mt, and then sesame seed at 6,665,787 ha
and 3,257,448 Mt.  The U.S. does not lead the world in hectares in any
of these oilseeds but is a major producer of sunflower seed and
cottonseed.  The world yield/hectare for cottonseed is 1.14 Mt.  Canada
is a major world leader in rapeseed production (4,937,800 ha and
7,728,100 MT) and flaxseed (528,100 ha and 516,900 MT).  The NAFTA
countries (Canada and U.S.) combined hectares leads the world in mustard
seed production (331,809 ha).

Table 9. Major World Oilseed Crop Production in 2004

(FAO STATISTICS 2004)

Countries/

Regions	Linseed	Mustard seed	Rapeseed	Safflower seed	Sesame seed
Sunflower seed

U.S.	208,820 Ha

265,980 Mt	27,800 Ha

25,530 Mt	338,240 Ha

612,530 Mt	64,350 Ha

79,730 Mt	0 Ha

0 Mt	692,420 Ha 928,900 Mt

Australia	7,000 Ha

6,000 Mt	200 Ha

200 Mt	1,141,000 Ha

1,496,000 Mt	35,000 Ha

30,000 Mt	NA	46,000 Ha

58,000 Mt

Canada	528,100 Ha

516,900 Mt	304,000 Ha

305,500 Mt	4,937,800 Ha

7,728,100 Mt	2,000 Ha

2,000 Mt	NA	58,600 Ha

54,400 Mt

New Zealand	500 Ha

1,000 Mt	NA

	2,000 Ha

4,000 Mt	NA	NA	0 Ha

0 Mt

Africa	168,861 Ha

105,063 Mt	2,500 Ha

1,500 Mt	46,098 Ha

60,784 Mt	87,000 Ha

43,000 Mt	1,952,582 Ha

888,559 Mt	982,080 Ha

889,443 Mt

C. America	5 Ha

3 Mt	9 Ha

19 Mt	10,500 Ha

14,000 Mt	85,000 Ha

212,765 Mt	111,417 Ha

67,418 Mt	900 Ha

680 Mt

NAFTA	736,925 Ha

782,883 Mt	331,809 Ha

331,049 Mt	5,286,540 Ha

8,354,630 Mt	151,350 Ha 294,495 Mt	44,209 Ha

22,593 Mt	751,920 Ha

983,980 Mt

S. America	39,495 Ha

39,668 Mt	NA

	55,926 Ha

98,000 Mt	30,000 Ha

18,000 Mt	111,835 Ha

72,446 Mt	2,254,784 Ha

3,693,170 Mt

Asia	1,312,620 Ha

735,400 Mt	289,601 Ha

198,245 Mt	14,757,337 Ha

20,465,848 Mt	462,670 Ha

217,815 Mt	4,475,146 Ha

2,223,390 Mt	4,996,811 Ha

4,930,830 Mt

Europe	354,995 Ha

232,674 Mt	260,641 Ha

172,744 Mt	5,136,484 Ha

15,776,246 Mt	1,101 Ha

847 Mt	307 Ha

1,835 Mt	12,404,802 Ha

15,552,935 Mt

World Total	2,620,396 Ha

1,902,688 Mt	884,751 Ha

703,738 Mt	26,425,385 Ha 46,255,508 Mt	767,121 Ha

604,157 Mt	6,665,787 Ha

3,257,448 Mt	21,436,397 Ha

26,108,358 Mt

Table 10. Major World Cottonseed Production and Yield/Hectare in
2003/2004

(FAO STATISTICS 2004, USDA Agricultural Statistics.)

Countries/

Regions	Cottonseed	Yield/hectare (Mt)

U.S.	4,858,000 Ha

6,046,000 Mt	1.24 Mt

Australia	196,000 Ha

480,000 Mt	2.00 Mt

Mexico	62,000 Ha

122,000 Mt	1.97 Mt

Africa	4,276,000 Ha

2,814,000 Mt	0.66 Mt

NAFTA	4,920,000 Ha

6,168,000 Mt	1.25 Mt

S. America	1,590,000 Ha

2,531,000 Mt	1.30 Mt

Asia	17,738,000 Ha

18,795,000 Mt	1.06 Mt

Europe and former Soviet Union	2,900.000 Ha

3,420,000 Mt	1.23 Mt

World Total	31,222,000 Ha

35,532,000 Mt	1.14 Mt

	In the U.S., oilseed commodities are widely consumed but the individual
oilseed crops are not reported separately on a per capita consumption by
the USDA Economic Research Service.  They report the oilseeds together
as “salad and cooking oils” with a U.S. per capita consumption in
2004 as 40.8 lb/capita (USDA ERS, 2006; Buzby and Farah, 2006).  Salad
and cooking oil consumption has almost doubled on a per capita basis
since 1979 (20.9 lb/capita).  Cottonseed oil made up 2.8% and canola oil
7.5% of the total salad and cooking oil manufactured in 2004.
Cottonseed oil and soybean oil are predominating baking and frying oils
at 2.4% and 87.6%.  Based on the USDA CSFII 1994 – 1996, 1998 survey,
using two day individual consumption for determined oilseed consumption
(g/day) is listed in Table 11.

Table 11.  Consumption of the Oilseed Crops.

(USDA  CSFII 1994 – 1996, 1998 survey.)

COMMODITY	CONSUMPTION (g/day)

Cottonseed, oil	1.38

Cottonseed, oil, babyfood	0.00065

Flaxseed, oil	0.0013

Rapeseed, oil	1.37

Rapeseed, oil, babyfood	0.000181

Safflower, oil 	0.035

Safflower, oil, babyfood	0.038

Sunflower, oil	0.146

Sunflower, oil, babyfood	0.29

Sunflower, seed	0.265

Sesame, oil	0.00885

Sesame, oil, babyfood	0.0414

IMPORTS/EXPORTS OF THE OILSEEDS:

	Despite the U.S. being a major producer of oilseed crops (Tables 2, 3,
and 10) significant amounts of some of the oilseeds are still imported.
The amount of a commodity can vary widely from year to year based on
differences in U.S. production, weather effects, and consumer demand.
The USDA Foreign Agriculture Trade Statistics (FATUS) reported that in
2005 over 11,600 MT of sesame seed refined oil was imported from other
countries with Japan accounting for 37%, Mexico for 26% and Taiwan and
the Peoples Republic of China for 27%.  Sunflower refined oil imports
were over 20,371 MT with Mexico accounting for 45%, Argentina for 35%
and Germany at 7%.  Safflower refined oil imports were 772 MT with
Mexico accounting for 65%, Spain for 27% and Canada for 6%.  Niger seed
is imported from Ethiopia, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.  Approximately
5,021 Mt of poppy seed was imported to the U.S. in 2003.  Cottonseed
imports were 4212 MT from China at 48%, Australia at 24% and Mexico at
12%.  Flaxseed oil was imported at over 86,744 MT with Canada accounting
for 97% and Peoples Republic of China at 2%.  Cottonseed oil imports for
2004 were only from Canada at 88.6 MT.  No jojoba oil has been imported
since 1999.

	The U.S. is also a major exporter of oilseed commodities.  For example,
in 1995 (USDA FATUS) approximately 120,363 MT of sunflower seed was
exported with Spain accounting for 28%, Canada for 17%, Germany for 15%
and Mexico for 8%.  Cotton refined oil was exported at over 14,725 MT to
Canada at 86% and Mexico t 8%.  Over 2003 Mt of mustard seeds were
exported to Mexico at 53%, Canada at 27%, Japan at 10% and Germany at
5%.  Approximately 894 MT of castor bean oil was exported to Canada at
33%, Mexico at 31%, Peoples Republic of China at 11% and Ireland at 7%.
Safflower seed at over 1907 MT were exported to Canada at 47%, Japan at
25% and Mexico at 24%.  Over 1443 MT of sesame seed was exported to
Canada at 68%, Japan at 27% and the Netherlands at 4%.  In 2004
cottonseed oil exports were over 47,404 MT and were exported to Canada
at 56%, Japan at 24% and Mexico at 18%.

U.S. Oilseed Production:

	Production in the U.S. is based on the USDA 2005 Agricultural
Statistics, FAO Statistics, 2005, USDA ERS 2005 Oilseed 2005 Summary,
and the U.S. Agricultural Census, 2002:   The harvested acreages for the
oilseed crops in the United States are listed in Table 12.  Cottonseed
has the highest acreages of the oilseed crops at over 13 million acres
(80.4 %) followed by sunflower at over 1.5 million acres (9.4 %) and
rapeseed canola varieties at over 860,000 acres (5.3 %).  If the
cottonseed acres were not counted, sunflower would account for 48.3 % of
the oilseed acres followed by rapeseed canola varieties at 27.1 %, flax
at 16.5 %, safflower at 6.2 % and the rest of the oilseeds at 1.9%.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND U.S. PRODUCTION:

Table 12.  Harvested Oilseed Crop Acreage in the United States for
2005.*

OILSEED CROP	ACREAGE (A) 	PERCENT OF TOTAL OILSEED ACREAGE

  Cottonseed	      13,057,000	  80.4 %

  Sunflower (oil varieties) 	        1,533,000	    9.4 %

  Rapeseed (canola varieties)	          862,000	    5.3 %

  Flax	          523,000	    3.2 %

  Safflower	          197,000	    1.2 %

  Crambe	            29,705	    0.2 %

  Mustard seed 	            22,900	    0.1 %

  Sesame	              3,145	  < 0.1 %

  Rapeseed (non-canola varieties)	              2,000	 < 0.1 %

  Jojoba	              1,607	  < 0.1 %

  Borage	              1,000	 < 0.1 %

  Other oilseed crops**	            <1,000	 < 0.1 %

TOTAL	        16,232,357	> 99.9 %

* Based on Food and Feed Crops of the United States and the USDA
Agricultural Statistics, and USDA NASS, 2006.

**Other oilseed crops include: castor oil plant, Chinese tallowtree,
cuphea, echium, euphorbia, evening primrose, gold of pleasure,
hare's-ear mustard, lesquerella, lunaria, meadowfoam, milkweed, Niger
seed, oil radish, poppy seed, rose hip, stokes aster, sweet rocket,
Tallowwood, tea oil plant, and Vernonia.

Specific Oilseed Crop Production:

Borage:

	Borage is being grown under contract in North Dakota (EPA Regions 5 and
7 for its seed that is extracted to make edible oil high in
gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) that has been found to lower cholesterol.
The average seed yield for borage is 300 lb/A.  It is native to the
Mediterranean region.  Borage is a rather coarse annual plant grown for
culinary use in Europe, but little grown presently in the U.S. for
culinary uses.

Castor oil plant:

	No castor oil plant production data is reported in the U.S.  More than
40,591 Mt of castor oil was imported to the U.S. in 2004 from India.  It
is naturalized in the tropics and warm regions such as eastern Africa.
Main producing countries are India, Brazil, and Thailand in 2004.  In
Asia the leaves are also fed to silkworms and cattle.

Chinese tallowtree:

	Chinese tallowtree is a subtropical plant native to China and was
introduced into the United States as an ornamental.  It is a prolific
seed producer and has escaped from cultivation and become naturalized.
It is naturalized from southernmost Cameron and Hidalgo County in Texas
northward to southern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas eastward to
North Carolina and Florida.  Plants grow in abandoned fields, pastures,
waste areas, and forests.  The species grows in a wide range of
environmental conditions: wet to dry and shade to full sun.  The plant
is a fast-growing tree, hence its popularity as a shade tree and as an
oilseed.

Cotton:

	Production in the U.S. of cottonseed in 2004 was 8,242,000 tons
harvested from 13,057,000 acres with 81 % of the total production is
reported from seven states - Texas, California, Mississippi, Arkansas,
Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, and Arizona (USDA 2005).  These
States are commonly refereed to as the “Cotton Belt States”.  See
Figure 3 for a map of the harvested cotton acres for 2002.  Average
yield of cottonseed for 2004 was 1262 lb/A, 1,068, million lb of
cottonseed oil was produced, and 1,439,000 t of meal were produced from
the oilseed crushing.  In the U.S. approximately 51 % are grown for oil
production, 44 % for fiber, and 2 % for planting seed.  Cotton is grown
primarily for its fibers or lint, but the oil containing seeds are
highly important.  World production of cottonseed oil averaged
35,532,000 Mt in 2004 on over 32,200,000 hectares.

Crambe:

	Crambe production in the U.S. in 2002 was reported at 13,262,400 lb on
12,320 A.  The production is in Montana (39%) and North Dakota (61%)
which includes EPA Regions 5 and 7.  Crambe is best grown in areas of
Midwest, upper plains states and northwest U.S.  Seed yields for crambe
have ranged from 1,076 to 1,700 lb/A.  Crambe is best grown in areas of
Midwest, upper plains states and northwest.  Other production regions:
Mediterranean region.  Crambe is believed to have originated in the
Turco-Iranian region and to have spread into the Mediterranean and
Europe and through Ethiopia into East Africa. C. hispanica occurs
naturally in Mediterranean Europe, Morocco and the Middle East.  Its
native distribution extends into the highlands of Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and easternmost parts of the Democratic
Republic of Congo.  In Ethiopia it is traditionally grown on a small
scale as a medicinal plant and minor oil crop.  Crambe was first tested
as an oil crop in the former USSR in the 1930s, and consequently it
spread to Sweden and Poland and later to other parts of Europe, North
America (1940’s) and China.  Thus, crambe is being developed as a
cool-temperate oil crop although it occurs naturally in the subtropics
and tropics. Crambe, with about 35 species, is one of the largest genera
of the tribe Brassiceae. C. hispanica is generally referred to as C.
abyssinica in agricultural literature.

Cuphea:

	Cuphea is a temperate and subtropical plant occurs naturally in Central
and South America. It has been grown in trials in Germany and USA.  The
genus Cuphea comprises some 260 herbaceous or perennial species. The
seeds of Cuphea spp. weigh about 2 mg.

There is no production for the U.S., but it could be adapted to Midwest
U.S. and western U.S.  There is a current USDA research project
(#3620-4100-115-07) to develop cuphea into a commercial crop with high
capric fatty acid content with reduce seed shattering at harvest.  It is
widely distributed in Mexico and Brazil.

Echium:

	Echium like borage is an herbaceous biennial crop in the Boraginaceae
family that produces a refined oil rich in omega-6 and omega-3
polyunsaturated fatty acids.  It is being grown in the UK and Canada as
a novel food ingredient crop.  It is distributed in the U.S. in NY PA,
MA, CA and OR.  The Bioriginal Food and Science Corporation, Saskatoon,
Canada has applied to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of
Echium oil as a new dietary ingredient.  In UK, the Croda Chemicals
Europe Ltd., East Yorkshire has also applied for approval for use of
echium oil in foods.  Echium is also distributed across Europe, the
Mediterranean region, Madeira, the Canaries and the Azores.

Euphorbia:

Euphorbia is an annual or biennial latex-bearing plant.  It requires a
long growing period for seed set. There is no production data for the
U.S., but it is naturalized in North America.  Other production regions
include Europe and they have produced yields up to 5t/ha.

Evening primrose:

Common evening primrose is an evening flowering winter biennial herb.
In Canada the seed oil is an approved dietary supplement.  The oil
contains gamma linolenic acid.  In 1994, 150 acres of evening primrose
were grown for oil in Washington State which accounted for about 70% of
the acreage in U.S.  It is native to North America and Canada.

Flax seed:

	Flax production in the U.S. for 2004 was 10,368,000 bushels planted on
523,000 acres.  More than 94% of the acreage is grown in North Dakota,
South Dakota Minnesota, and Montana (EPA Regions 5 and 7).  The average
yield is 20.3 bu/A.  Over 62% of the flax seed is utilized for oil
production.  About 36 % of the total flax seed utilized was imported.
Approximately, 13,600,000 bushels of flaxseed was crushed for oil in
2004 with a resultant 245,000 tons of meal.  Canada reported 1,239,730
acres grown for flax in 1995.  Yields of flax have ranged from 1,000 to
1,500 lb/A.

Two types of flax are grown, the seed flax for oil in its seed and fiber
flax for fiber in the stems.  Producers in the upper Midwest and the
Prairie Provinces of Canada grow the flax for oil.  Flax mostly grown
for fiber is in Europe and Asia.  The fiber is used to make fine linen
cloth.  Linseed oil, obtained from seed of the flax plant, is primarily
used in industry; but some is used for edible purposes in Eastern
Europe.  Flax seed for oil was grown in the U.S. on an average of about
2.7 million acres, 1964-66 but down in 1993 to 206,000 acres. World
production of linseed oil is down and last reported 1991-92 at 569,800
tons.  The downward production trend for flax may be reversed with the
recent introduction of solin (so-lin) which is a low (< 5%) linolenic
acid flax. Solin oil is good for salad dressing and cooking oil.  These
varieties are called ‘linola’.

Gold of pleasure:

		Gold of pleasure is an annual oilseed crop originated in southwest,
Central Asia and Central Europe and well adapted to Minnesota.
Cultivation probably began in Neolithic times, and by the Iron Age in
Europe. It is also called camelina and was commonly used as an
oil-supplying plant.  It is listed as being adapted to the flax-growing
regions of the northern Midwest (Minnesota, North Dakota, and South
Dakota).

Hare's ear mustard:

Hare's ear mustard is grown in Europe to Mediterranean.  It is hardy to
USDA plant hardiness zone 0, and is distributed throughout eastern North
America.

Jojoba:

	Jojoba is a slow growing evergreen perennial desert shrub native to the
Sonora Desert.  The 2002 AG CENSUS reported 88,578 lb produced on 1,607
acres harvested in U.S. with 99% of the reported acres in California and
Arizona (EPA Regions 9 and 10).  In 1997 there were 1,551,385 lb
produced on 4,919 A in California and Arizona.  Jojoba is grown in the
southwestern U.S. and Mexico.

Lesquerella:

Lesquerella is a perennial desert plant native to the Southwest (West
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah) that produce seed
containing a hydroxyl vegetable oil.  Its cultural practices are similar
to winter wheat or other small grains.  All species of lesquerella are
native to North and South America with 83 of 95 known species indigenous
to North America.  There are limited fall plantings in Texas and
Arizona; and spring plantings in Oregon.  It is also grown in Canada.
In the Netherlands limited plantings have produced yields up to 1390
kg/ha.  There is a current USDA research project (#3620-4100-115-03) to
develop lesquerella into a commercial crop for lesquerolic acid, a
hydroxyl fatty acid as an alternative to imported castor oil plant.

Lunaria:

Lunaria is a biennial adapted to a temperate climate that is being grown
in England and western Asia and can produce from 1800 - to 2,600 kg
seed/ha.  The oil content can be up to 47.8%.  The long chained fatty
acids are similar to those in meadowfoam.  Lunaria is also grown as an
ornamental crop as a dried flower known as the money plant.

Meadowfoam:

	Production in U.S.: Willamette Valley in Oregon with about 400 acres in
1986.  In 1993, about 1,000 acres were produced with a goal of about
3,000 acres in 1994.  Other production regions: West coast of North
America.  It was originated from upland pasture in northern California
and southern Oregon, and is endemic to North America which includes EPA
Crop Production Region 12.  Meadowfoam can be grown as a winter annual
crop.  It has been grown to a limited extent in parts of the eastern
U.S. and Alaska.  Meadowfoam is well adapted to cool wet Mediterranean
climate of the Pacific Northwest.

Milkweed:

	Milkweed is a native U.S. perennial herbaceous dicot plant, adapted to
USDA plant hardiness zone 3.  It is found mainly in areas between the
Rocky and Appalachian Mountain ranges and from southern Canada to
northern Mexico.  It is usually considered a weedy pest, but its seed
oil is being researched as a biodiesel fuel and for cosmetic uses.

Mustard:

	Mustard grown for seed in the U.S. has produced 47,198 tons of seed on
144,337 acres as reported in 2002 AG CENSUS.  More than 96% of the U.S.
production is in North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Washington (EPA
Regions 5, 7, and 11 with an average yield of 834 lb/A.  Canada produces
about 250,000 tons of seed on about 540,109 acres and is the U.S.
largest importer.

Niger seed:

	Niger seed is an important annual herb oil crop in Ethiopia and parts
of India.  It is native to Ethiopia.  India and Ethiopia produces
350,000 – 375,000 t annually.  Niger seed oil has potential for edible
and industrial uses, and the press cake for animal feed.  It is being
produced in Minnesota and North Dakota.  The seed is also sold for
birdseed, especially for finches.

Oil radish:

Young flower clusters can be eaten raw or cooked. A spicy flavor with a
crisp pleasant texture, they make a nice addition to salads or can be
used as a broccoli substitute.  They have a hot spicy flavor and go well
in salads.  Edible oil is obtained from the seed. Young seed pods can be
eaten raw.  This crop is also used as a livestock feed and in Michigan
as a cover crop.

Poppy seed:

Annual herb that is native to Mediterranean region and Central Asia.
Poppy seed is produced in the Netherlands, Australia, Romania, and
Turkey.  U.S. imported about 5,284 tons from Australia, Netherlands and
Turkey in 1992.

Rapeseed:

	Rapeseed grown in the U.S. was planted on only 90,000 acres of canola
in 1992 and in 2004 over 862,000A was produced.  In 2003 there were
1,082,000 A of canola (99.7%), 3,900 A of rapeseed (0.3%), and 22,900 A
of mustard seed.  It is mainly grown in Idaho, North Dakota, Washington,
Minnesota, and Michigan (EPA Regions 5, 7, 11 and 12) and North Dakota
accounted for over 88% (780,000A) of the total production.  About
10,040,000 acres of canola in Canada for 1995 produced 1,008,475 t and
rapeseed was grown on 5,750,000 A.  See Figure 6 for a map of the
harvested canola acres for 2002.  The average yield in 2004 for canola
established a new record at 1,618 lb/A.  Over 1,976 million lb of canola
was crushed for oil with 776 million lb oil produced, and 605,000 short
tons of meal.  In 2000, rapeseed (non-canola) production was 2,750 t.

	Rapeseed oil is obtained from the seeds primarily of the species
Brassica. napus, B. juncea, and B. rapa and the oil from different
species are not distinguished on the market, since all have similar
properties. Production in the U.S. is limited, but rapeseed oil is of
major importance in Europe, Canada and Asia.  The term "colza" refers to
refined oil.  Low glucosinolate and erucic acid levels are now defined
as “double low” or canola quality, which is less than 2 percent
erucic acid and having less than 30 micromoles of aliphatic
glucosinolates per gram of defatted meal and are called low erucic acid
rapeseed (LEAR).  Rapeseed oil (non-canola type) is not usable as edible
oils.

Rose hip:

The Sweetbrier or Eglantine rose forms an arching shrub 2-3 m high.  It
is native to Britain and northern Europe. In addition to its beautiful
pink flowers, it is valued for the strong apple-like fragrance of its
foliage, and the hips that form after the flowers and persist well into
the winter.  The flowers are followed by bright orange rose hips very
high in Vitamin C.

Safflower:

	Acreage of safflower has ranged from 400,000 in 1968 to less than
100,000 acres in 1980.  Safflower production in U.S. in 2002 was 192,490
tons of seed on 197,000 acres.  The average yield is 1,434 lb/A.  The
top four safflower producing states are California, North Dakota,
Montana, and South Dakota (EPA Regions 5, 7, 9, and 10).  Canada
produced 500 tons of safflower seed on 2,719 acres in 1995.  EPA Crop
Production Regions 7 and 10 account for 97 % of U.S.

Sesame:

The sesame plant is an erect growing annual, 3 to 6 feet high grown for
the small, seeds, which are widely used on bread, rolls and other
culinary items, and are also extracted for the oil.  The genus consists
of about 36 species of which 19 are indigenous to Africa.  In Nigeria,
three species, S. alatum (Thonn), S. indicum L. and S. radiatum Schum &
Thonn, are widely cultivated.  Besides the U.S. sesame is grown in
India, China, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, South America, and Africa.
Approximately 3,145 acres of sesame for seed were reported in the U.S.
in the 2002 AG CENSUS, and 1,358,364 lb was produced.  Over 70% of the
sesame seed production was in Texas with the rest in California and
Oklahoma (EPA Crop Production Regions 6, 8 and 10).  It grows well in
areas adapted for cotton.  Sesame for oil is a major crop in Asia and
Mexico.  The oil is usually expressed in Europe and Asia.  Culture and
exposure are similar to those of soybean. U.S. imported about 37,348 Mt
of seed in 2004 and in 2005 the USDA Foreign Agriculture Trade
Statistics (FATUS) reported that over 11,600 MT of sesame seed refined
oil was imported from other countries with Japan accounting for 37%,
Mexico for 26% and Taiwan and the Peoples Republic of China for 27%.

Stokes Aster:

	Stokes aster is an herbaceous perennial plant native to Southeastern
U.S. States

that can also be an industrial oilseed crop.  It is adapted to the USDA
plant hardiness

zones 5 – 10.  The seeds contain large amounts of vernolic acid (12,
13-epoxy-cis-9-

octadecenoic acid) which is a source of epoxy oil products to
manufacture plastics and

adhesives.  Most of the U.S. epoxy oil is derived from petrochemicals
and processing of

linseed and soybean oil.  It may be developed to replace some of the
petrochemical use.

There are no specific production data for stokes aster.

Sunflower:

	Sunflower oilseed varieties were planted in 2004 on 1,533,000 acres
with non-oil varieties planted on 340,000 acres.  More than 89% of the
oil varieties are produced in North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, and
Colorado (EPA Regions 5, 6, 7, and 8).  Approximately, 89% of the
non-oil varieties are produced in North Dakota, Colorado, and Minnesota
also in EPA Regions 5, 6, 7, and 8.  See Figures 4 and 5 for a map of
the harvested sunflower oil varieties and non-oil varieties,
respectively for 2002.  Average yields of sunflower oilseed varieties
were 1238 lb/A, and 997 lb/A for non-oil varieties.  In 2004, 609
million lb were crushed for oil resulting in265 million lb of oil, and
147,000 short tons of sunflower meal from the oil crushing, 1390 million
lb were used for non-oil types and seed production (Ash and Dohlman,
2006a).  Canada reported 95,000 hectares of sunflower grown in
2003/2004.

	Sunflower is native to the western U.S., but principal commercial
production of

the seed for oil is in other countries, especially the former Soviet
Union.  World

production of sunflower oil averaged from 2003 to 2004 near 169,758 Mt
on 22,639 ha

with a yield of 1.17 Mt/ha.  Sunflowers are grown from southern Canada
south through

Mexico and Argentina.

Sweet rocket:

		Sweet rocket is an evergreen biennial or perennial grows to 90-120 cm
tall.  It is native to Europe, and can be grown in all regions of North
America.

Tallowwood:

Tallowwood is a 3 m shrub originated in African tropics and is
widespread in the tropics including Africa, India, Southeast Asia,
Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, and Central and South America. The
plant has pale grey bark, purple-red branches with waxy bloom, and
yellow/red edible fruit. The large seed contains a nut-like kernel.  It
is a thorny little tree with small leaves up to 5 - 7 m height.  It is
found in almost all regions in dry, moist and wet low- and midlands (500
- 2,100m) and rarely be found in places up to 2,450 m. The wood is
heavy, hard and very durable.  The bark is brown-black. Twigs bear small
scales, spines, 1cm, thin and strait. Leaves up to 7 x 3cm,
blue-gray-green, folding upwards along midrib, tip round or notched.
Flowers are very fragrant, small green-white. Fruits are oval to 2.5cm,
thin skin red, yellow to orange pulp, around one large seed containing
oil.  The seed contains non-drying oil suitable for soap and
lubrication.  It is a Florida native. Frequent in hammocks, scrub and
flatwoods of peninsular Florida, also Puerto Rico and the Virgin
Islands.  Blooms spring through fall, with 3 cm berry-like fruit turning
from green to yellow when mature.

Tea oil plant:

The tea oil plant is an exceptionally hardy evergreen plant (USDA Plant
Hardiness Zones 6 – 9), fall blooming, tea-oil camellia that can
tolerate temperatures as low as -10° F.  Seeds have been utilized in
China for more than 1000 years.  Tea oil is the main cooking oil in
China’s southern provinces, especially Hunan where more than 50% of
the vegetable cooking oil is from tea oil plant.  The crop can grow from
18° to 34° North latitude and grows on acidic soils where January mean
temperatures do not drop below 2°C.  Other production regions: It is
estimated that the need for tea oil in the year 2000 in China will range
from 485,000 to 551,000 t/year.  Approximately one-seventh of China’s
population uses tea oil for cooking.

Vernonia:

	Vernonia is grown as a perennial herb in North America.  It is native
to equatorial Africa.  There is limited acreage of Vernonia in Puerto
Rico and Arizona.  Current USDA research shows that veronica can be
grown in the Mid-Atlantic region.  It is also grown in Central America

COMPARISON OF OILSEED CULTURAL PRACTICES:

Borage

	Borage is a rather coarse annual plant grown for culinary use in
Europe, but little is grown in the US for this purpose.  Recently,
borage is being grown for its edible oil because it is a good source of
gamma linoleic acid (GLA) that is used to reduce cholesterol.  The crop
contains edible oil 30 - 38% of which 20-30% is GLA.  The plant is hairy
and grows 1 1/2 to 3 feet high.  Leaves are oval to oblong and up to 4
to 5 inches long.  Only the young leaves are palatable and used in
salads and test like cucumber.  In the US, borage is also grown as an
ornamental.  Borage flowers are used for flavoring, mainly in drinks,
such as lemonade and other fruit juice drinks and teas, as well as an
ornamental crop.  The flowers are blue or purple, borne in large
racemes, and the resulting fruit each have 3 to 4 seeds.  Borage is
planted with a grain drill at a rate of 10 to 12 lb/A at 18 inches
between rows.  The seeds begin to emerge in 10 days, flower in 50 days,
and mature at 105 days. Borage yields range from 80 to 800 lb/A with an
average of 300 lb/A.

Castor Oil Plant:

The plant is herbaceous to 15 feet perennial that acts as an annual in
temperate regions, but may become a small tree in the tropics.  The wild
types are large perennials while the cultivated crops are short and
annual.  The leaves are large and palmate in shape with 5 - 7 lobes.
The plant varies in its growth, foliage and stem color, seed size, color
and oil content.  The color has led to the development of cultivars for
ornamental purposes.  While often called castor bean it is not a legume.
 Highest yields occur in areas with annual rainfall between 600 – 700
mm, but acceptable yields are found in areas receiving 375 – 500 mm of
rain.  It is adapted to almost every soil and prefers sandy loams but
not heavy clays and poorly drained soils with a soil pH of 5.0 – 6.5.
Planting dates in northern areas range from March – May and in
southern areas January – March.  Dwarf varieties have been developed
that grow to a height of 5 ft.  The seedbed for dwarf castor oil plant
is similar to that for cotton and corn and it can be planted with a corn
or cotton planters with seeds planted to 5 cm deep.  Giant seeded
varieties are seeded by hand and they are transplanted about the middle
of May since it is susceptible to frost in the early growing season.
There are 2,240 seeds/lb.  The row spacing is 25 – 30 cm for dwarf and
30 – 40 cm for larger hybrids for about 25,000 to 30,000 plants/ha.
Weeds are major problem to establish dwarf varieties and can be
controlled with mechanical cultivation or herbicides.  In the U.S.
planting to emergence time averages 13 days but may range from 10 -123
days depending upon planting date; to flowering 47 days; and to harvest
150 – 160 days.  Oil formation in the seed begins 20 days after
flowering in Canada.  Fruits are harvested in about 95-180 days
depending on cultivar.  The seeds are borne in globular shaped capsules,
generally covered with soft spines.  Some varieties have been developed
that have soft non-irritating spines.  The capsules split, sometimes
explosively, at ripening, but less so with dwarf varieties.  Each
capsule normally has three seeds, ovoid in shape, variable in size,
shinny seed color, generally from 1 to 3.5 grams in weight.  In the U.S.
harvest begins in October.  Commercial plantings of dwarf hybrids are
fully mechanized.  Capsules fall on a conveyer and are dehulled.  Two
row harvesters moving at 5 km/hr can harvest 0.75-1.5 ha/hr and yield up
to 3000 kg/ha.  Yields in the U.S. can range from 1776 – 2290 kg/ha on
irrigated and on non-irrigated field from 936 – 1370 kg/ha.  The
shelled beans contain 35 to 60 percent of oil, which is extracted by
pressure or by solvents.  The nondrying oil is used as a medicine and
extensively in industry, rarely in cookery.  In Asia the leaves are fed
to silkworms and cattle.  Whole seeds before processing are poisonous to
animals and humans because of the toxin ricin.  Food grade oil is used
as an antistick agent in candy molds, and a flavor component in baked
goods, beverages and candies.  The untreated meal is used as fertilizer
or as a fish feed.  It needs to be detoxified before it is fed to
livestock.  In the U.S., the meal is an insignificant livestock feed.
The recent isolation of high oleic/low ricinoleic mutations is an
important advance in developing ricinoleic acid free/high oleic cid
castor oil line that may increase its potential use in industrial and
food applications.

Chinese tallowtree:

	Chinese tallowtree is a subtropical plant recently domesticated in
China and is primarily grown for their large oily seeds.  Chinese tallow
tree was introduced into the United States as an ornamental by Ben
Franklin in 1776.  It is a prolific seed producer and has escaped from
cultivation and become naturalized.  Chinese tallow tree is a small to
medium-sized monoecious tree and can grow to 50 ft.  The leaves are
alternate, simple, and net-veined 1.5 – 3.5 in long.  The petiole is
long with two glands on the upper side near the blade.  The blade is
rhombic-ovate, entire, with an acuminate apex and a round to truncate
base.  Leaves of Chinese tallow tree turn red in the fall, making it a
popular ornamental.  The plant is a fast-growing tree, hence its
popularity as a shade tree ornamental.  In Texas, 200,000 to 300,000
trees are being grown for ornamental uses.  Tallowtree is also used for
furniture making and incense.  The flowers are imperfect, with green
sepals and no petals, and are produced in a terminal spike.  The
staminate flowers are terminal in the spike and the pistillate ones are
near the base.  Flowering starts in April - May and matures in September
- October.  The fruit is a three-lobed capsule about ½ - ¾ in long and
¾ in wide with three seeds.  The seeds are globose-flattened, 6-9 mm in
diameter, turn white with age, and often persist on the tree into
winter.  The plant can be toxic to cattle and the milky sap can cause
dermatitis.  Plants grow in abandoned fields, pastures, waste areas, and
forests.  It can easily become a weedy species especially in Florida and
the Gulf coast states, if not managed as a crop.  The species grows in a
wide range of environmental conditions: wet to dry and shade to full
sun.  It reproduces by seeds only, but one mature tree can produce over
100,000 seeds.  The seeds seem to have a tremendous ability to germinate
under adverse conditions.  Chinese tallowtree oil is a source of
vegetable tallow or drying oil and a protein food.  The outer seed coat
is a source of solid fat known as Chinese vegetable tallow and the
kernels produce a drying oil called Stillingia oil.  Candles, soap,
varnishes, and fuel are made from the tallow.  Seeds contain about 20%
oil, 24% tallow, and 11% extracted meal.   The oil is extracted the
residual presscake is used as for manure in tobacco fields.  Fruits and
seeds are harvested by hand in November or December after the leaves
have fallen.  Mechanical harvesting methods appear to be readable
adaptable.  Trees can be planted at a rate of 400 trees/ha.  The tree is
also being researched for its biomass and oil to be used as a petroleum
substitute.  Yields of 4,000 to 10,000 kg/ha which could produce 25
barrels of oil/year.  Chinese tallowtree is also used as for medicinal
uses.

Cottonseed:

	Cotton is grown primarily for the fibers or lint, but the oil
containing seeds are highly important.  The cotton plant is a stiff
growing herbaceous annual outside the tropics, with fairly large, lobed
leaves, and an indeterminate growth habit.  In the tropics a mature
cotton plant can grow to 15 – 20 ft, but in the U.S. it attains a
height of 2- 5 ft.  Seed size of different cultivars range from 4000 –
5500/lb, and an adequate plant population is at least 30,000 - <60,000.
Fruiting flower buds are called a square.  The fruits are capsules which
dehisce as they ripen.  There is a 21 day period from square to bloom
and several recognized developmental stages.  The ‘pinhead” square
is the first stage which identifies a square.  The period of square
development prior to bloom is called “squaring”.  Once the cotton
plant begins to bloom it is the flowering growth stage.  Bloom last 5
– 7 days before they dry and fall exposing a small boll.  Boll
development has three phases called enlargement, filling, and
maturation.  The boll enlargement stage last 3 weeks to allow the fibers
or lint on the seed to develop.  The boll filling phase begins the
fourth week after flowering and continues into 6 weeks after pollination
and the fibers on the seed stop elongating.  Boll maturation phase
begins as the boll meets its maximum size.  The fiber and seed
maturation is completed and the bolls dehiscence occurs.  Each capsule
or boll contains up to 40 or 50 obovate, rounded or angular seeds, to
which are attached the fibers or lint.  Cotton bolls are made up of 4 to
5 locks.  When mature the bolls dry out and fluff open.  The lint and
seeds are commercially harvested from the dehisced bolls, partly by
stripper or mechanical picker.  The longer lint is removed from the
seeds mechanically at cotton gins and then baled.  The seeds of most
varieties are still covered with short fibers or linters after the
ginning.  The seeds consist about half of hull and half of kernel.  The
kernels contain 28 to 40 percent oil.  In extracting the oil the seeds
are cleaned, delinted, and pressed or put through expellers either whole
or after dehulling.  With each 100 lb of fiber, the plant produces 165
lb cottonseed.  It takes about 1470 lb of freshly picked cotton from a
spindle picker to produce 480 lb bale of lint, 780 lb seed, and 210 lb
of gin byproducts.  It takes about 2350 lb of seed cotton from stripper
harvesters to produce the same amount of lint and seed, since strippers
have more leaves, stems, and burs.  A two row stripper harvester can
perform at the rate of 1.7 hours/ha, while the two row picker harvester
can perform at 2.3 hours/ha.  A two row spindle harvester can perform at
1.85 hours/ha (0.75 hours/A).  Normally, 100 – 120 bolls are required
to produce a pound of seed cotton (160 – 170 for a pound of lint).
One ton of seeds yield around 325 pounds of oil, 920 lb meal, 510 lb
hulls, 167 lb linters, and 78 lb manufacturing loss.  The meal or press
cake is valuable high protein livestock feed and the cotton fields,
after the harvest, may be used for livestock pasturage.  The oil is used
mainly for shortenings.  Smaller quantities are used for cooking and
salad oils, margarines, and soap manufacture.  Cotton emerges in 4 to 20
days after planting, and begins to flower about 60 days after planting.
At 50 days after planting the cotton plant is 14 inches tall.  Flowering
continues for about 45 days and individual bolls mature in about 55
days.  Planting to harvest days can range from 140 – 160 days after
planting to harvest.  Most of the cottonseed is processed in four months
from October – January.  Cottonseed products derived from the kernel,
outer hulls, and linters have many commercial uses.  The hulls are used
for livestock feed, mulch, poultry litter, oil well drilling mud, and to
make furfural to make synthetic rubber and plastic.  Products from the
linters include cellulose nitrate to make plastics, use in food casings,
rayon, cosmetics, paint, toothpaste (cellulose esters) felts for
automobile upholstery, mattresses, cushions, yarns for lamps , twine and
mops, medical grade cotton balls, paper, use in making film and yarns
for fabrics.  The kernel is used to make the meal and press cake for
livestock feed and fertilizer, fish bait, and crude oil to make refined
oil for salad dressing and cooking oil,, soaps, glycerin for cosmetics,
and fatty acids for soaps, rubber, and pesticides.

Crambe

	Crambe is a cool season erect annual herb with numerous branches
growing to 3 feet tall with leaves large, oval and smooth adapted to the
Great Plains.  Crambe is seeded in the spring and produces white
blossoms and light-colored seeds.  The seeds yield about 35% oil (dry
matter basis).  Seeds containing more than 25% oil, such as crambe and
rapeseed, typically warrant use of pre-press/solvent extraction for
processing.  Dehulling the seed near the point of production reduces
volume and eases transportation costs.  Presently, the hull is
considered part of the harvested product.  The seed pod protects the
seed from direct contact with pesticide residues.  Harvest should be
while the lower stem is still green to prevent shatter losses.  Crambe
matures from 90 to 120 days after seeding, with seed yields ranging from
1,070 to 1,700 lb/A.  There is approximately 86,000 crambe seeds/lb with
a test weight of 22 - 27 lb/bushel.  Crambe is seeded in the spring
(Texas – early Feb., Iowa – early April).  It can be grown on a
variety of soils, with best yields well drained on sandy loam soils with
a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.5.  It is very sensitive to herbicides and
easily affected by herbicide drift.  Cultivation is similar to small
gains, and it can be seeded with a grain drill.  Seeding to harvest
takes about 90 days.  Crambe has seeds with usually about 4 month
dormancy.  Once the dormancy is broken, the seeds take 1–2 weeks to
germinate at temperatures of 10 – 20°C.  Germination is retarded
below 8°C and inhibited below 5°C, and takes 10 – 14 days to
germinate.  Early growth is rapid, and flowering starts 33 – 42 days
after germination.  Physiological maturity is reached after about 80
days.  Crambe is propagated by seed.  The weight of 1000 seeds is about
7 g.  Seed rates vary from 10–25 kg/ha for unhulled seeds.  A fine,
firm seedbed is required for even germination and vigorous seedling
growth.  Seed is placed at a depth of 1.5 – 2.5 cm, at 20 - 30 cm row
spacing.  Flower buds develop at the 10 – 13 leaf stage.  When crambe
fruits approach maturity, the leaves turn yellow and drop; a few days
later the fruits and small branches turn straw-colored. When the last
seed-bearing branches have turned color and the seed capsules are yellow
usually at 90 – 100 days after planting, the crop is ready to harvest.
 Each capsule contains a single spherical seed and is windrowed with a
moisture content of 25 – 30%, and should not be threshed until the
moisture content has dropped below 15%.  Crambe is cut, windrowed and
threshed with a combine, similar to canola harvesting.  Timely
harvesting is important to avoid excessive shattering, and harvest
should be done while lower stem is still green.  Once established,
crambe tolerates periods of drought as long as soil moisture is adequate
during the flowering and fruit setting stages.  A dry period prior to
fruit maturity is beneficial.  Crambe is more tolerant of drought than
maize, soybean and mustard crops.  Crambe seed must be cleaned and dried
to 10% moisture for storage before processing.  Processing is similar to
canola oil processing.

	Use of crambe meal at a concentration not to exceed 4.2% of the ration
can be used as beef cattle feed.  With pre-cooking during processing or
other methods to reduce glucosinolates before it can be fed.  Oil is
used for industrial purposes such as industrially as a lubricant and
cooling agent.  Erucic acid is easily modified and its chemical
derivatives are valuable raw materials in the production of lubricants
(erucamide), plasticizers, surfactants, corrosion inhibitors, rubber
additives, nylons, paints, hydraulic and dielectric fluids,
pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.  The press cake, rich in glucosinolates,
can be used as a feedstuff for ruminants, and also applied as a
fertilizer.  Glucosinolates extracted from the seed are being tested
pharmaceutically.  In Ethiopia, the fruits are used in traditional
medicine to treat snake bites, and in Kenya the leaves are eaten.

Cuphea:

	Cuphea is an annual plant that grown to about 3½ feet tall.  In the
U.S. Cuphea is grown as a summer annual crop in Oregon and Minnesota.
Leaves are simple, entire and opposite or whorled.  The stems, leaves
and flowers are covered with sticky or glandular hairs.  The genus
Cuphea comprises some 260 herbaceous or perennial species.  The seeds of
Cuphea spp. weigh about 2 mg.  Cuphea is propagated from seeds or
vegetatively by stem cuttings.  Cuphea oil is a rich source of
medium-chained fatty acids with similar use like coconut or palm kernel
oil for its lauric and capric fatty acids.  The feed value of the
defatted meal is being studied.  Yields up to 900 kg/ha were obtained in
CA, Minnesota, and OR trials.  Oil contents of seeds ranges from 28 –
33%, with capric acid ranging from 67 to m73% of the total oil.
Cultivars are being designed for candy and chewing gum, as well as in
detergents and cosmetics.  There is a current USDA research project
(#3620-4100-115-07) to develop cuphea into a commercial crop with high
capric fatty acid content with reduce seed shattering at harvest,

Echium:

	Echium like borage is an herbaceous vegetable crop in the Boraginaceae
family that produces from its seeds a refined oil rich in omega-6 and
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and a source of stearidonic acid.
Stearidonic acid is useful in treating skin conditions such as eczema.
Echium is planted by a grain drill in 10cm rows in the spring from the
end of March through mid-May and germinates in 7 – 14 days.  It is
grown as a biennial crop 20 - 60 cm tall hairy stems and produces
clusters of blue – pink flowers.  It is harvested in August through
late September.  Postharvest seed moisture content is in the range of
10-18%.  Echium is also considered a weedy pest in pastures in areas
such as Australia, and it can be used as a source of pollen for bee
production in Australia.  The plant is a prolific seed produces up to
30,000 seeds/sq meter, and contains oil content about 20%.  The seed
nutlets are three cornered and 2.5 to 3 mm long.  Potential yield is
over 600 kg/ha, but in most cases ranges from 250-400 kg/ha.  It is
being grown in the UK and Canada as a novel food ingredient crop.  It is
distributed in the U.S. in NY PA, MA, CA and OR and in Canada.  The
Bioriginal Food and Science Corporation, Saskatoon, Canada has applied
to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of Echium oil to be
marketed as a new dietary ingredient.  Croda Chemicals Europe Ltd., East
Yorkshire is applying to sell echium oil in Europe.  If the ingredient
is approved it will be used as an ingredient in milk and yogurt based
drinks, cereals, nutritional bars and food supplements.

Euphorbia:

	Euphorbia is an annual or biennial latex-bearing plant to 3 feet tall.
Stem leaves are green 4-ranked and 2 to 6 inches long.  The seed has oil
content of about 50% of which oleic acid makes up 80 to 90%.  It can be
grown as a winter or spring crop and requires a long growing period for
seed set.  Its use is like lard and tallow, in soaps, detergents,
cosmetics, paints and lubricants.  No data available on the palatability
of the meal for livestock.

Evening primrose:

	The common evening primrose is an evening flowering winter biennial
herb 1 to 6 feet tall which normally germinate the first year, making a
taproot for the winter, then flowers the second season.  The stems are
branched with lance-shaped leaves 4 to 12 inches long.  Roots may be
eaten as a vegetable, and the shoots in salads.  Evening primrose blooms
from June to September.  In Canada the seed oil is an approved dietary
supplement.  The oil contains gamma linolenic acid.  The tufted evening
primrose is a stem less perennial with leaves 1 to 4 inches long.  It
can be fall or spring seeded.  Fall seedlings in August with over
wintering are harvested for seeds the following August (12 months).
Spring seedlings in late March to early April are harvested for seed in
November.  Its use is for the roots are sweet, somewhat resembling
salsify or parsnips and eaten boiled or added to soups and stews.  Young
shoots used in salads or as pot herb.  Evening primrose in Washington
State is grown under a contract.  Seed used for oil or confectionary as
substitute for poppy seed.

Flax seed:

	Flax is a broadleaf crop with narrow < 1 inch long, and grows to a
height ranging from 30 – 36 in.  Two types of flax are grown, the seed
flax for oil in its seed and fiber flax for fiber from the straw.
Producers in the upper Midwest and the Prairie Provinces of Canada grow
the flax for oil.  Flax mostly grown for fiber is in Europe and Asia.
The fiber is used to make fine linen cloth.  Fiber flax varieties are
very tall with few branches and low seed production, while the seed flax
varieties are short with several branches has high seed yields.  The
fiber in the seed flax stems can be used to make paper or furniture
padding and cigarette paper.  Linseed oil is obtained from seed of the
flax plant and it has been primarily used for industrial purposes such
as a drying agent for paints, varnishes, lacquer, linoleum floor tiles,
and printing inks; some is used for edible purposes in Eastern Europe.
The flax plant is an erect growing, with a single stem from 2 to 4 feet
with narrow leaves annual plant.  The fruit is a pod or capsule about
1/3 in diameter is similar to other Brassicas and contains 6 to 10
seeds/pod.  The seeds contain around 35 to 44 percent of drying oil.  In
Eastern Europe, the seed is generally first cold pressed, the cold-press
oil being used in foods.  A later hot press yields additional industrial
oil.  In the U.S., oil extraction is generally hot press, followed by
solvent extraction, and the oil is not used as food.  The press cake
from hot pressing is a valuable livestock’s feed.

	Flax in Minnesota is a spring annual crop with a 90 – 110 day growing
season, and is adapted to fertile, well drained medium textured soils,
with a soil pH in the range of 6.0 – 6.5.  Management of flax is much
like spring oats.  The prepared seedbed is similar to small seeded
grasses or legumes.  Flax is planted with a cereal crop drill planter
March through April at a rate of 25 to 50 lb/A, a row spacing of 6 to 8
inches, and a plant population of 750,000 plants/A.  Seedlings emerge
from 7 to 12 days after planting, with a vegetative stage of 45 – 60
days followed by a flowering period of 15 to 25 days, and 30 – 40 day
maturation, and the plant matures from 90 to 120 days after seeding with
yields ranging  from 1,000 to 1,500 lb/A.  Yields of linola in
Washington and Idaho ranged from 980 – 2300 lb/A.  In 1998, 1500 acres
were planted in Washington and Idaho.  Flax has a yield that ranges from
14 to 20 bu/A.  The flax flower contains a five-celled boll or capsule
that may contain from 6 to 10 seeds.  When the 90% of the bolls turn
brown the crop is ready for harvest.  The crop is ready to harvest when
the bolls and tops parts of the plant are dry and the seed is < 9%.
There are about 82,000 seeds/lb with a bushel test weight of 56 lb/bu.
Flax is harvested similar to small grains at 12% moisture.  Seed needs
to be stored at 8 – 10 % moisture.

	The downward production trend for flax because of the increase use of
acrylic paint and vinyl flooring may be reversed with the recent
introduction of solin (linola) developed in Canada and Australia in
1992-3, which is a low (< 5%) linolenic acid flax compared to 50% in
wild type varieties, and its use of flax seed in human diets to reduce
cholesterol.  Solin oil is good for salad dressing and cooking oil.  It
is light yellow color oil with high linoleic acid around 65 – 75%.
These varieties are called linola and are a good source of omega-3.  The
generally recognized as safe (GRAS) petition (5G0416) was filed with the
U.S. FDA by the Flax Council of Canada proposing that the low linolenic
acid flaxseed soil be GRAS for use as a food oil (27 MAR 96 Federal
Register: 61:13505-6).  The seed of linola is golden yellow in color,
while other linseed varieties are brown.  The inedible linseed oil is a
dark brown color.  Other uses of flax seed is for medicinal uses.
Flaxseed’s high dietary fiber content can play a role in reducing
diabetes, lowering blood cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease
risk, preventing colon and rectal cancer, and reducing the incidence of
obesity.  Seed oil is used primarily for industrial purposes.  Flaxseed
is also used in a variety of baked goods.  Solin is used as cooking oil,
and as poultry feed to produce eggs with enriched omega-3 fatty acids.
The meal which remains after oil extraction contains about 35 % protein
is fed to livestock.  The seed is used as a condiment in some breads and
a feed supplement for laying hens.  Straw cannot be fed to livestock
because it is high in prussic acid.   The straw is used for fiber in
linen garments, webbing, and linen paper, e.g. cigarette paper.  Linola
appears to be well adapted to the Pacific Northwest.

Gold of pleasure:

	Gold of pleasure is an annual oilseed crop originated in southwest,
Central Asia and Central Europe and well adapted to Minnesota.  It was
known as "gold of pleasure" to ancient European agriculturists.
Cultivation probably began in Neolithic times, and by the Iron Age in
Europe Camelina was commonly used as an oil-supplying plant, and as
birdseed and industrial oil.  It is used as cooking oil in China.  It
grows as a large bush to 30 to 90 cm tall and has branched smooth or
hairy stems that become woody at maturity.  Leaves are arrow-shaped,
sharp-pointed, 5 to 8 cm long with smooth edges. It produces small, pale
yellow or greenish-yellow flowers with 4 petals.  Seed pods are 6 to 14
mm long and superficially resemble the bolls of flax.  Seeds are small
(0.7 mm x 1.5 mm), pale yellow-brown, and oblong with a ridged surface
with 345,000 – 465,000 seeds/lb.  The bushel weight is 50 lb.  Seeds
contain 29 to 43 % oil, and a protein content of 23 – 30%.  Seeding
rates range from 6 – 14 kg/ha.  It is listed as being adapted to the
flax-growing regions of the northern Midwest (Minnesota, North Dakota,
and South Dakota) and Montana and being researched in Georgia as an
alternative crop. Unlike flax, camelina can be surface-sown on frozen
ground in the late fall or winter or early spring and produce good
stands and yields comparable to conventionally-sown Brassica crops.  The
crop is short-seasoned (85 to 100 day) so that it could be incorporated
into double cropping systems during cool periods of growth, possibly in
more tropical environments.  It is harvested in October or November.
Seed yields range from 600 – 2381 kg/ha and oil yields range from 604
– 1011 kg/ha, depending upon whether the crop is irrigated.  Gold of
pleasure meal is similar to soybean meal, containing 45 – 47% crude
protein and 10- 11% fiber.  The erucic acid is much lower than crambe or
high erucic acid rapeseed.  The fatty acids in camelina oil are
primarily unsaturated, with only about 12% being saturated.  About 54%
of the fatty acids are polyunsaturated, primarily linoleic (18:2) and
linolenic (18:3), and 34% are monounsaturated, primarily oleic (18:1)
and eicosenoic (20:1).  Camelina oil is less unsaturated than linseed
(flax) oil and more unsaturated than sunflower or canola oils.  The
balance of saturated vs. unsaturated fats is similar to that of soybean,
but camelina contains significantly higher proportion of C18:3 fatty
acids.  The gold of pleasure oil has been used in skin care products
like creams, in production of soaps and detergents, in birdseed, as a
replacement for marine oils and as a natural source of antioxidants
(gamma- tocopherols).  It along with canola and flax is an excellent
source of heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids, and is being used in a wide
range of foods from pure oil, salad dressings, and crushed oilseed cake.
 The oil has an almond or sweet olive - like flavor.  Gold of pleasure
is also being researches as a source of liquid biofuels, and as an
ingredient for fish food.

Hare's ear mustard:

	Hare’s ear mustard is grown in Europe to the Mediterranean.  It is
hardy to plant hardiness zone 0.  The flowers are hermaphrodite and are
pollinated by moths, butterflies, and flies.  It is distributed
throughout eastern North America.  Flowers pale yellow, arranged in a
small, terminal cluster. Seed pods elongate, thin, without an apical
beak. Stem and leaves smooth, covered with a white, waxy bloom.  Leaves
are ovate, pale green, with a smooth outer margin. Upper leaves clasping
the stem.  Plant grows to 1 to 2.5 feet in height.  Flowering occurs
from May to July approximately 4 – 6 weeks after planting.  The plant
prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and
requires moist soil.  It prefers acid, neutral and basic soils and can
grow in very alkaline soil.  It cannot grow in the shade.  The plant can
tolerate strong winds but not maritime exposure.  Seed pods are about 5
cm in length.  Yields range from 549 – 901 kg/ha in central North
Dakota.  Light-yellow oil obtained from the seed is used for cooking.
Leaves and stems can be eaten raw.

Jojoba:

	Jojoba is a slow growing evergreen perennial semi-arid desert shrub
native to the Sonora Desert and Arizona may grow to 10 feet tall with a
natural life span of over 100 years.  It can grow in areas with 75 –
450 mm annually.  Jojoba requires a well drained sandy soil with a soil
pH ranging from 5 – 8, and is salt tolerant.  The plant can be direct
seeded or replanted from nursery seedlings.  Seedlings can be
transplanted in 8 – 10 weeks.  The crop can be maintained like an
orchard with 5 m spacing between rows and 2 – 1.6 m between plants.
Emergence may take place in 5 – 7 days, but the shoot may not emerge
until 20 – 25 days after seeding.  The plant produces fruit capsules
that contain 1-3 oily brown seeds about the size of a hazelnut or
peanut. Plants normally flower in 20 – 24 months.  Fruits can mature 3
– 6 months after flowering.  A mature plant averages 5 pounds of seeds
(dry weight) per year.  The fruit is a green, elongated, oval capsule
containing 1 – 3 seeds.  When ripe the capsule splits to expose the
seed for harvest.  Irrigated plants can produce seed within three years
with maximum yields after 6 – 8 years.  The jojoba seed resembles a
pecan nut and is 12 – 18 mm long and 6 – 12 mm diameter.  The seeds
are extracted for its oil which is 50 – 60 % of the seeds dry weight,
and is used for shampoo, in cosmetics, and as a sperm oil and carnuba
wax substitute.  The liquid wax is a clear golden color, and is a
replacement for sperm whale oil in the cosmetic market.  The extracted
oil seed meal has potential as an animal feed supplement in lamb rations
at 5%.  The treatment of the meal with Lactobacillus increases its
palatability for livestock.  The seed can be roasted and eaten or used
as a coffee substitute.  Harvesting small areas may be done manually.
Collecting seeds from the ground by vacuum appears the most promising
for mechanical harvesting.  In southern California, flower from November
to February with the first ripe fruit on the plant in May.  Yields of
0.5 kg/bush have been recorded.  The growers wait until all mature
fruits fall and vacuum them up in August.  Planting to first commercial
harvest is about 5 years.  Harvested seed needs cleaning and drying to
around 10 – 12 % moisture.

Lesquerella:

Lesquerella is a perennial desert plant native to the Southwest (West
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah) that are grown as a
winter annual.  It grows to a height of about 14 to 16 inches with
several stems.  Capsules develop along the stem and contain numerous
small, flat seeds.  Its cropping system is similar to winter wheat or
other small grains.  Oil is very similar to castor oil.  Protein content
in the meal runs to 35% and can be used for cattle feed when
thioglucosidase enzyme is inactivated.  Oil is a substitute for castor
oil.  The seed is harvested when it is 5 – 6% moisture and contains
25% oil by weight.  Oil is extracted by extrusion followed by solvent
extraction and the meal high in protein is being researched as an animal
feed.  Yields range from 950 – 1129 kg/ha.  All species of Lesquerella
are native to North and South America with 83 of 95 known species
indigenous to North America.  Interest in developing lesquerella began
in the 1960s when three new hydroxy fatty acids (HFA), lesquerolic,
densipolic, and auricolic, were discovered in Lesquerella species.
Seeding of the crop to harvest takes about 7 to 8 months.  Most species
occurring in the western U.S. contain lesquerolic acid (C20:1-OH) as the
primary fatty acid in its seed-oil.  This HFA is very similar to
ricinoleic acid, the primary HFA of castor.  Most species in the eastern
U.S. contain densipolic acid (C18:2-OH) as their primary seed-oil
component.  There is a current USDA Research Project (#3620-4100-115-03)
to develop lesquerella into a commercial crop for lesquerolic acid, a
hydroxyl fatty acid as an alternative to imported castor oil plant.  It
also appears to be useful in cosmetics such as lipsticks.

Lunaria:

	Lunaria is a member of the mustard family that can produce seed oil
that is greater than 90% of the acids are monounsaturated.  The oil
content of the seed varies from 30 – 40%.  It can successfully be
established into a standing crop of winter wheat. Wheat is harvested in
August leaving the young Lunaria to grow from the stubble.  Lunaria is a
biennial plant adapted to a temperate plant that grows to a height of 30
– 100 cm and it is being grown in England and can produce from 1800 to
2,600 kg seed/ha.  It is seeded in mid-July to August.  The plant
flowers in April and May and has purple or white flowers.  The seed pods
are large, circular and attached to the plant.  Seeds are large and
compressed in the pod in two rows.  The flat, thin walled translucent
silicula are dried to be used in floral arrangements.  The oil content
can be up to 47.8%.  The oil has potential industrial uses similar to
meadowfoam such as a lubricant and for nylon.  It is also commonly grown
as an ornamental plant known for its dried flowers called the money
plant.

Meadowfoam:

Meadowfoam can be grown as a winter-spring annual crop.  It is a small
erect herbaceous crop, 10 to 18 inches tall, native to northern
California and southern Oregon.  Leaves are pinnately dissected, and
flowers are solitary 1 inch across.  The seeds (nutlet) are pear-shaped,
striated and tiny, and yield about 1,000 pounds per acre and the seeds
produce only 16 to 32% oil.  It has been grown to a limited extent in
parts of the eastern U.S. and Alaska.  Meadowfoam is well adapted to
cool wet Mediterranean climate of the Pacific Northwest and is
commercially grown in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.  The seeds can be
harvested with the same equipment used in grass seed production and is
cut when 90% of the seeds are mature.  It is allowed to dry in windrows
for 7 to 10 days to a seed moisture content of 12 to 16%.  The meal can
be feed to beef cattle.  The meadowfoam oil unlike other seed oils
consists almost entirely of long-chain fatty acids (more than 18
carbons).  The oil is in direct competition with rapeseed oil as an
industrial source.  It also can be a substitute for sperm whale oil and
jojoba oil.  It was originated from upland pasture in northern
California and southern Oregon, and is endemic to North America.  The
name is derived from the typical white blooming canopy of plants which
give the image of white foam covering the soil.  It grows in a rosette
from which flowering stems arise in late winter/early spring.  Planting
rates are 23 kg/ha with a grain drill yielding a plant populations are
400 plants/sq m.  Meadowfoam is a prolific flowering plant and can
produce up to 5.5 million flowers/ha over the 16 day period.  Each
flower can produce a 5 seeded nutlet, but 2-3 seeds are the norm.
Equipment used for grass seed production is well adapted to meadowfoam
production and harvest, and cultural practices are similar to a grass
seed crop or cereal grains.  Meadowfoam is planted in the fall in early
October and harvested in early summer, June-July.  Over a 16 day period
the plant produces masses of white flowers with an estimated 5.5 million
flowers/ha daily over the 16 days.  The recommended planting date is
early-mid October, seed rate 30-35 lb/A (23 kg/ha), drilling depth 3-8
mm, row spacing 6 – 8 in, and an optimal plant population is 400
plants/m2.  Low populations produce prostrate plants, difficult to
harvest, high populations lead to lodging.  The cultivar ‘Floral’
has a seed count ranging from 44,000 to 68,000 seeds/lb and averages
50,000.  Seeds are ready to harvest when the moisture content is 42%.
The plants are cut and placed in windrows for 7 – 10 days before they
are threshed.  Commercial seed yield ranges from 400 – 1200 lb/A.  The
seed oil ranges from 18-35% and 16 - 25% protein.  The meal produced
after crushing has a fiber content of 22% and protein content of 25%.
The amino acid content is similar to rapeseed.  Meadowfoam oil is used
similar to jojoba in several commercial products like hair care, lip
products, and body lotions.

Milkweed:

	Milkweed seed oil is being researched by USDA (Holser and O’Kuru,
2006) as a potential alternative fuel for diesel use.  It has passed
standard diesel fuel tests.  Common milkweed is a perennial herb that
grows from a rhizome and grows 2 – 6 ft tall and is adapted to sandy,
clayey, or calcareous soils.  In each inflorescence there are 20 – 120
small flowers (11 - 17 mm).  The inflorescence produces seed pod
clusters which can generate three types of products: a fine silky fiber,
seed for oil, and the pod hulls.  Currently, the seed floss or fiber is
being used as a non-allergic fill to replace imported goose and down
feathers in comforters and for making ropes.  When used for fiber the
milkweed is collected in the autumn after the leaves have begun to fall
off.  Milkweed seed oil is high in vitamin E.  Most of the milkweed seed
oil development is being conducted in the Midwest.  Milkweed is a sole
source of food for the Monarch butterfly.  The seeds must be dehulled
before oil extraction and contain 20 - 25% oil by weight.  Its seed oil
also can reduce fatty deposits in arteries, and can be used as cooking
oil.  The seed oil is highly unsaturated and high in oleic and linoleic
fatty acid.  Nonfood uses for the seed oil are for use as a moisturizer
in cosmetics, as soap, and as a lubricant, and in paints.  The seed meal
can control nematodes and contains 36% protein.  The milkweed oil is
highly unsaturated and is cardenolide-free.  The main source of milkweed
oil is obtained from Natural Fibers Corporation, Ogallala, NE.  In the
Nebraska area, milkweed is seeded in the spring to obtain a population
of 248,000 plants/A.  It can be propagated by seed and rhizome cuttings.
 It flowers from May to October depending on location, and has a
fragrance similar to lilacs.  The seed pods are spindle shaped and
contain small, round hairy seeds (0.2 – 0.3 mm) in diameter.  Harvest
is usually begins at the end of summer by a modified ear corn picker.
Milkweed oil could become a profitable crop in a value added niche
market.  The unopened flower buds can be cooked and taste like peas.
Pink flowers and young buds are used as a flavoring agent and a
thickener in soups.  The indigenous groups of eastern and Midwestern
America would boil young shoots, stems, flower buds, and roots to eat as
a vegetable.  The pods look like large okra.  There are several
medicinal uses from the dried roots and leaves.

Mustard

	The condiment mustards of commerce are the ground seeds of these three
annual plants which grow from 30 to 45 inches tall, mainly with the seed
coats removed.  The seeds are near round, 1/10 inch or less in diameter,
and produced two in a pod, which are removed by threshing.  Three types
of mustards the yellow, brown, and oriental are grown in North America.
Black mustard seed is yellow inside and is the kind of major commercial
production.  The ground brown or black mustard seeds exhibit a strong
odor while the white or yellow does not.  The mustard is a specialty
crop usually grown under contract.  The oilseed is protected from
pesticides applied during the growing season by the pod or shell.  The
seed contains up to 30% oil.  At 5%, the oil has the lowest saturated
fat of the edible oils.  Oil may be extracted by three methods.  Fixed
oil is extracted by cold press, and the remaining press cake is steam
distilled or solvent extracted for the essential oil.  There are
basically four types of condiment mustard-whole mustard seed; ground
mustard mainly for the meat industry; mustard flour for sauces, salad
dressings, baked beans, and Chinese or hot English mustard; and
oleoresin mustard.  Mustard prefers a well drained sandy loam soil with
a pH of 7.0.  Yellow mustard is seeded with a grain drill at 8 to 14
lb/A, oriental and brown mustards are seeded at 4 to 7 lb/A.  The crop
emerges from 7 to 10 days after planting, flowers 30 40 days after
planting and yellow mustard matures in 80 to 85 days and oriental
mustard matures in 90 to 95 days.  At harvest the crop is windrowed and
dried n the field for 10 – 14 days.  The average mustard seed yields
range from 800 to 1,500 lb/A with 180,000 seeds/lb

Niger seed:

Niger seed is an important oil crop in Ethiopia and parts of India.  The
annual crop is tolerant to high salinity, high boron and low soil oxygen
levels, and prefers sandy clay and clayey loam soils with a soil pH
range of 5.5 – 6.5.  Row widths vary from 30 – 50 cm.  Oil content
of the Niger seeds ranges from 35 to 45% and improved varieties are to
50 - 60%.  Niger is an annual herb that grows from 3 to 7 feet tall, and
cultural practices and seeding are similar to cereal grain crops.  The
seeding rate ranges 6.5 to 12 kg/ha and germination occurs from 3 to 10
days.  A single plant often bears 20 to 40 flower heads with yellow
flowers and small black seeds.  The weight of 1,000 seed is
approximately is approximately 3.25g.  Flower heads are 5 – 50 mm wide
with 5 – 20 mm long ray flowers.  Flowering begins 50 to 110 days
after sowing, and can last for 15 to 30 days.  Flowers can include both
yellow disc and ray florets similar to sunflower and safflower, and the
fruit is an achene.  The seeds are shinny black about 1/8.  There are
usually 15 to 40 mature seeds/head.  In Ethiopia, generally 120 to 180
days are required from emergence to maturity.  The crop is normally
planted in July, flowers in early October and is harvested in December
or January.  In India the crop matures in 75 to 150 days.  The Niger
seed oil is pale yellow with a nutty taste and is used as a substitute
for sesame seed oil.  The crop is harvested manually in Ethiopia and
India or threshed similar to in harvesters.  Seed yields range from 500
– 1000 kg/ha.  Clean Niger seed stores well when dried to a moisture
content of 12%.  Harvesting Niger is the U.S. is similar to canola.  In
most of the world Niger seed is harvested as an oilseed crop.  Domestic
consumption of Niger is about 70 million lb.  The oil is used in foods,
soaps, and as an illuminant, and as an olive oil substitute.  In India
seeds can be fried or used as a condiment, and pressed into cakes with
honey.  The meal may make an animal feed since its protein content is
about 33%.  Niger seed in the U.S. is often called thistle seed and used
as birdseed, especially for finches.  Most Niger seed sold in the U.S.
for birdseed is imported.

Oil radish:

	The oil radish is an annual plant growing from 1 – 3 ft tall.  Oil
radish can be planted in the spring, late summer, r early fall and is a
rapid grower.  Seeding rates range from 10 -20 lb/A, and is planted with
a seed drill or broadcast ¼ - ½ in depth.  Radish seeds germinate in 3
- 14 days.  It is not frost tender, and the flowers are hermaphrodite
and are pollinated by bees and flies.  It flowers from June to August,
and the seeds ripen from July to September. The root is best harvested
before the plant flowers.  The plant prefers light (sandy), medium
(loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and neutral and basic (alkaline) soils
and requires moist soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or
no shade.  6. The young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and are used
in salads and as a cooked greens.  Young flower clusters can also be
eaten raw or cooked.  A spicy flavor with a crisp pleasant texture, they
make a nice addition to salads or can be used as a broccoli substitute.
Seeds can be eaten raw.  The seed can be soaked for 12 hours in warm
water and then allowed to sprout for about 6 days.  They have a hot
spicy flavor and go well in salads.  Young seed pods can be eaten raw.
Edible oil is obtained from the seed; originally the root was also used
for oil production.  In Michigan and Canada the oil radish is widely
used as a cover crop and produces up to 4 T/A for grazing in about 60
days.  While it can be used for forage for early and late season, it is
considered an insignificant livestock feed.

	The oil radish also has several medicinal uses such as the roots
stimulate the appetite and digestion, having a tonic and laxative effect
upon the intestines and indirectly stimulating the flow of bile.  The
plant can be used in the treatment of intestinal parasites.  The leaves,
seeds and old roots are used in the treatment of asthma and other chest
complaints.  The juice of the fresh leaves is diuretic and laxative.
The seed is carminative, diuretic, expectorant, and laxative.  The root
is crushed and used as a poultice for burns and bruises.  The plant
contains raphanin, which is antibacterial and antifungal, and it
inhibits the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, streptococci,
Pneumococci, etc.  The plant may also show anti-tumor activity.

Poppy seed:

	Poppy seed is an annual herb native to the Mediterranean region and
Central Asia. The poppy seed is not narcotic.  Generally, blue-seeded
cultivars are superior in seed oil yield to white-seeded ones.
White-seeded ones are used more in confectionery trade.  Seeding to
harvest takes about 7 months.  Dried seeds as a topping for baked goods,
fill for pastry, seed oil for use in salads and cooking oil and seed
cake is also used as food.  Seeds also added to curry paste, pasta,
salads and vegetables.

Rapeseed/Canola:

	Rapeseed is grown as annual crop for its edible oil and as a livestock
feed.  Some non-oil uses of rape (Brassica napus) are for its young
edible leaves that are specifically grown as a pot herb.  In exposure of
edible parts young rape plants used as pot herbs are similar to spinach.
 Rape greens are currently a member of the Brassica leafy vegetable crop
group 5.  As a forage crop, rapeseed can produce 1 – 2 tons dry matter
in a growing season, but when grown for its seed, canola is not used as
forage.

	Leaves of canola are generally lobed, 4 to 12 inches long, half as
wide, near glabrous, but with scattered hairs.  Flower stems are much
branched with a height of 3 to 5 feet, and pods are 3 to 5 inches long.
Rapeseed oil is obtained from the seeds primarily of the species B.
napus (Argentine canola), B. juncea (quality canola brown mustard), and
B. rapa (Polish canola) and the oil from different species is not
distinguished on the market, since all have similar properties.  The oil
is high in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as oleic, linoleic, and
linolenic.  The term "colza" refers to refined oil.  Canola is similar
to soybean in high quality protein and oil contents.  Low glucosinolates
and erucic acid levels are now defined as “double low” or canola
quality, which is less than 2 percent erucic acid and having less than
30 micromoles of aliphatic glucosinolates per gram of defatted meal and
are called low erucic acid rapeseed (LEAR).  Rapeseed oil (non-canola
type) is not usable as edible oils, but a small demand for high erucic
acid rapeseed (HEAR) still remains for use in plastics, lubricants,
lacquers and detergents.  Canola has become major edible oil in the U.S.
in a short time period.  In 1992 only 90,000 acres of canola were
produced and in 2004 over 862,0000A was produced.  Canola is adapted to
cool temperate regions and grows best on medium textured well drained
soils with a pH as low as 5.5.  The small, near globular seeds are borne
in elongated, closed capsules.  The pods or capsules are 1/2 – 3 in
long, 1/8 in wide and contain 15 – 30 small brown to black seeds.
They contain 30 to 45 percent of semi-drying oil.  The oil is separated
either by solvent extraction or by cold or hot pressing.

	Canola can be seeded in either fall or spring depending upon the
variety.  There are both spring and winter annual rapeseed varieties
that are used depending upon cultivar either in industrial or edible
oils.  Only spring cultivars are grown in the north to survive the
winter.  Canola is seeded with a grain drill at 4 to 6 lb/A with 6 to 12
inches between the rows and a plant population of 250,000 plants/A.
Canola can be grown in either a conventional tillage or no-tillage
system.  In canola, the seed accounts for 23 to 31% of the total plant
dry weight.  Seeds germinate in 4 - 21 days, depending upon the soil
temperature.  Flowers are bright yellow.  Flowering at growth stage 4
begins form 43 to 59 days after planting and continues for 14 to 21
days.  Brassica napus varieties can vary from the other varieties in
maturity by 10 days or more.  Depending upon the variety, canola matures
in 80 to 100 days, and yields average 1322 lb/A.  The canola at harvest
is cut into windrows and a stubble height of 10-15 inches is left.  It
is cured in the windrow for 10-14 days before combining.  Yields depend
upon planting rates can range from 500 to 2200 lb/A under optimum
growing conditions.  Brassica napus varieties have seeds at 3.5 – 4.5
g/1,000 seeds (222,000 to 286,000 seeds/kg) or 101,000 to 130,000
seeds/lb, while Brassica rapa varieties have seed weights at 2 to 3
g/1,000 seeds (333,000 to 500,000 seeds/kg or 150,000 to 227,000
seeds/lb).  Bushel test weight varies from 43 – 52 lb, and the seed
weight varies from 116,000 to 250,000/lb.  Storing canola seed for
longer than six months should be kept at < 8% moisture. Canola is the
second most consumed vegetable oil following soybean oil in the U.S.

Rose hip:

The Sweetbrier or Eglantine rose forms an arching shrub 2-3 m high and
across. It is native to Britain and northern Europe.  In addition to its
beautiful pink flowers, it is valued for the strong apple-like fragrance
of its foliage, and the hips that form after the flowers and persist
well into the winter.  The stems are armed with many sharp, hooked
thorns.  It has a pale pink flower and can grow up to 10 to 12 feet
tall.  The sweetbrier rose (R. rubinigosa) is a favorite in England, is
a large, arching shrub of 6-8', armed with hooked thorns-ideal where an
impenetrable hedge is wanted.  The foliage has the fragrance of apples,
particularly noticeable when crushed or in a damp breeze. The flowers
are followed by bright orange hips very high in Vitamin C.  The oil is a
light bluish wine colored and extremely high in essential fatty acids.
The oil can be extracted as cold pressed and is high in essential fatty
acids and is used as a skin lotion.

Safflower

	Safflower is an annual grown from seed, and is 1.5 to 6 feet (0.4 to
2.0 cm) tall with spiny thistle-like leaves, which are almost as broad
as long.  It is grown on a wide range of soils and prefers a sandy loam
at pH of 5 – 8.  Safflower is mechanized similar to the small grain
cultural practices.  It develops a dense flower-head which tapers
upward, and has 20 to 180 flowers/head; each head has one seed/flower
and each flower can produce seeds.  The yellow to orange flowers are
used to color and flavor foods.  The flower-heads yield a dyestuff that
is used on fabrics, especially silk.  The seeds yield a valuable salad
and cooking oil.  Flower heads to color and flavor foods; the primary
use is for the edible oil from the seed.  Seeds are borne partially
exposed in globular heads, with 15 to 50 seeds per head and 1 to 5 heads
per plant with each flower head producing 20 to 100 seeds.  Seeds are
elongated, 1/4 to 1/3 inch long and a third as much in diameter.  Hulls
around the seed make up 35 to 38% of the seed dry matter.  The seed
contains 32 to 40 percent oils and 15% protein.  Seed moisture for
storage is between 5 – 8 %.  The seed coats are fibrous, so seeds are
decorticated before pressing or putting through expellers to obtain the
oil.  Most of the oil is used for edible purposes, but it is also
comparable to linseed oil for industrial use, and for birdseed.  The
birdseed varieties produce mostly white seeds, and they are grown
primarily in Canada and the Midwest High oleic fatty acid (similar to
olive oil) and linoleic acid cultivars and are harvested separately.
The press cake is a valuable high protein feed supplement for cattle,
sheep and poultry.  Seeding rates average 30 kg/ha and 60 kg/ha on
irrigated fields, with row widths ranging from 76 – 150 cm.  Planting
rates with a grain drill range from 15 to 40 lb/A with a 15 to 30 cm row
spacing, and the final plant population is 130,000 to 140,000 plants/A.
There are approximately 13,000 seeds/lb.  The crop emerges 7 to 10 days
after planting and begins to head at 60 days, flower 30 days later, and
mature 30 days after flowering.  Harvesting can begin 35 – 40 days
after flowering when the seed moisture is < 8%.  Most cultivars require
a minimum growing period of 110 days, while in central California the
growing period extends to 150 days, while yields range from 800 to 2,000
lb/A, with a test weight of 45 lb/bushel (range from 39 to 46 lb).  In
North Dakota safflower is planted in late April to early May and is
harvested in late summer to late September.  Harvesting safflower which
does not lodge is by grain combines.  The press cake is a valuable high
protein feed supplement for cattle, sheep and poultry.  Most cultivars
require a minimum growing period of 120 days.  In central California the
growing period extends to 150 days.

Sesame:

	Sesame is one of the oilseeds first domesticated for cultivation.  The
genus consists of about 36 species of which 19 are indigenous to Africa.
In Nigeria, three species, S. alatum (Thonn), S. indicum L. and S.
radiatum Schum & Thonn, are widely cultivated (IPGRI).  The sesame plant
is a broadleaf erect growing annual, 3 to 6 feet high, grown for the
small, obovate, flattened seeds, which are widely used on bread, rolls
and other culinary items, and are also extracted for the oil.  It grows
on sandy to medium well drained soils with a pH ranging from 5.0 –
8.0.  The leaves are entire, 3 to 5 inches long, oblong or lanceolate,
and somewhat roughened.  Flowering begins 36 – 45 days after planting
and is completed 70 – 90 days after planting.  Seeds are produced in
capsule pods 1-1.5 inches long with eight rows of seed in each capsule
with 50 to 80 seeds/capsule.  Approximately 15,000 seeds are in one
pound.  The plant requires a fairly long, warm growing season ranging
from 80 to 160 days depending upon the cultivar.  Sesame is planted in
rows between 15 in (38 cm) to 40 in.(102 cm), at a recommended plant
population of at least 300,000 plants/ha at a rate of 2.5 – 4.5 lb/A
(3 – 4 kg/ha).  Only the seeds are utilized.  The small, flattened
seeds are borne in two-valved pods or capsule, and have a content of
semi-drying oil of 50 percent or more, up to 25% protein, and a moisture
percent less than 6 %.  The number of capsules per plant is directly
related o the number of flowers.  It is usually planted in May in the
U.S.  Cultural practices are similar to the small cereal grain crops.
Yields of sesame seed can range from 2000 – 2500 kg/ha.  About 3,145
acres of sesame for seed were reported in the U.S. in the 2002 AGCENSUS.
 In the U.S. the sesame crop is mechanically harvested, while over 90%
of other countries still manually harvest the crop.  Sesame for oil is a
major crop in Asia and Mexico.  The oil is usually expressed in Europe
and Asia in three stages.  The first is a cold press, followed by hot
presses.  Hot pressed oil is refined before being suitable for edible
use.  Sesame seed is a high value dual purpose crop being harvested both
for whole seed used for baking and on top of loafs of bread or bagels
and for its cooking oil extracted from the seed.  Sesame oil is used
mainly as a salad and cooking oil, and in the manufacture of margarine
and shortening.  Culture and exposure are similar to those of soybean.
Non-shattering or shatter resistant varieties have been developed for
direct harvesting.

Stokes aster:

	Stokes aster is an herbaceous perennial plant that growth ranges from 6
to a

height of 28 inches (70 cm), native to Southeastern coastal plain of the
U.S. that has

potential to be used as an industrial oilseed crop.  It also prefers a
well-drained soil with

a pH 5.6 – 6.6 and it can grow in semi-shade or full sun.  Leaves can
be 4 – 12 in long

and up to 2 inches wide.  The flower head are typically 3 – 4 inches
in width has white,

lavender to blue-violet flowers.  It can be propagated by seed,
divisions, or root cuttings.

Seeds can germinate in 14 – 21 days, and are propagated in individuals
cell plugs in the

greenhouse.  Root cuttings can be made anytime during the year.  The
plants are spaced

12-15 in (30-38cm) apart.  It's seeds contain large amounts of oil
36-49% and vernolic

acid (12, 13-epoxy -cis-9-octadecenoic acid) which is a source of epoxy
oil products to

manufacture plastics and adhesives.  Seed yields are estimated from 300
– 1000 lb/A.

Most of the U.S. epoxy oil is derived from petrochemicals and processing
of linseed and

soybean oil.  It may be developed to replace some of the petrochemical
use

Sunflower

	The sunflower is native to the western U.S (Nebraska), but principal
commercial production of the seed for oil is in other countries,
especially Russia.  Even though sunflower was native to North America,
it did not become a major crop in the U.S. until 1979.  Oilseed
sunflowers have been a crop in the U.S. since 1986.  Sunflower is
adapted to well-drained soils with a pH of 6.5 – 7.5.  The plant is a
large, rough annual, broadleaf plant with a stiff stem from 3 to 7 feet
tall, depending upon the cultivar and adapted to sandy loam soils.
Semi-dwarf sunflower are 25 – 35% shorter than normal height
sunflower.  Leaves are rough and up to 12 inches long.  The angular
seeds are up to 1/2 inch long, and are densely packed in the flat,
terminal heads, which may be more than a foot across, and contain 1,000
to 2,000 individual flowers.  The yellow flowers around the edge of the
head are individual ray flowers, and the face of the head is comprised
of hundreds of disk flowers that each one forms into a seed called an
achene.  Seeds are exposed in the head during growth.  Seeds normally
contain about 25 percent of the semi-drying oil, but this has been
increased by breeding to above 40 percent.  High oleic acid varieties
called ‘NuSun’ have been developed.  Oil is usually expressed by an
initial cold press, followed by hot pressing.  The cold-press oil is
used as a salad and cooking oil and for the margarine, the hot-press
mainly for industrial purposes.  The meal is a very valuable livestock
feed.  Hulls can be used as a roughage, poultry litter, or fireplace
kindling.  Seeds are also consumed like nuts with the non-oil varieties
for human food and feeding birds.  Industrial uses of sunflower oil are
for paints, plastics, soaps, detergents, and as a pesticide carrier,
surfactant and lubricant.  Use as a snack food has grown over the last
20 years, the non-oil varieties with larger seeds are used for snacking.
 Confectionary types are grown under contracts with smallest seeds being
used for bird seed markets.  The confectionary types have a large
striped seed with low oil content, sometimes called non-oil sunflower
types.  Oil types have a smaller black seed containing up to 40% oil and
have 20 – 25% hulls.  Sunflowers can also be used as a silage crop and
can be doubled cropped in areas with small grains or vegetables and the
season is too short to produce mature corn for silage.  They are also
used as an ornamental crop.  Sunflowers are usually planted with a corn
planter or grain drill from April through mid-July at a rate of 3 – 4
lb/A with a final population of 15,000 to 25,000 plants/A.  Sunflowers
grown for confectionary uses are seeded at 17,000 to 20,000 plants/A.
There is about 5,000 to 8,000 seeds/lb and this seed size range has test
weights for oilseed varieties ranging 24 – 32 lb/bushel.  The minimum
U.S. Grade test weight per bushel is 25 lb.  They germinate 4 - 7 days
after planting, and are harvested with grain combines 30 to 45 days
after blooming.  Plants are ready to harvest when the back of the flower
heads turns yellow or brown and the seed moisture is 10 – 12%.
Harvesting can be done with the use of combines suitable for harvesting
small grains.  Short varieties of sunflowers mature 90 to 120 days after
planting, and tall varieties 120 – 160 days after planting and yields
average 1363 lb/A with a range of 1.5 – 4 t/ha.  In 2004 yields of
sunflower seed was 1,119/A.  Sunflower seed needs to be stored at 8 -
10% moisture or less.  Sunflower varieties for snack food
(confectionary) markets must be free of insect damaged and cleaned well
to meet food safety standards.

Sweet rocket:

	Sweet rocket is an evergreen biennial or perennial grows to 36-48 in.
(90-120 cm) tall.  It blooms at late spring to early summer with
violet/lavender or white flowers.  It is native to Europe, and can be
grown in all regions of North America.  This wildflower likes moist
conditions, but is quite adaptable.  It is a short-lived perennial or
biennial that remains in the garden for years as a result of prolific
self-seeding. It can grow in a wide range of soil types with a pH > 7.0.
 It is planted from seed outdoors in fall with a plant spacing of 15-24
in (38-60 cm) under full sun to partial shade.  Germination takes up to
three weeks.  It is easily grown from seed in average, medium wet,
well-drained soil in full sun to part shade.  It grows best in partial
shade in hot summer climates. Flowers have a clove-like fragrance.
Prompt removal of spent flowers may encourage a second flush of bloom.
Plants can become woody at the base and persist for a number of years,
but are best replaced with new seedlings.  The seed contains 50% of
edible oil.  The essential oil can be used in perfumes.  The young
leaves are edible and can be used as a substitute in salads.  Sweet
rocket is also used as an ornamental crop.

Tallowwood:

		Tallowwood is a 3 m shrub originated in African tropics that has pale
grey to brown

black bark, purple-red branches with waxy bloom, and yellow/red edible
fruit.  The large