Winter Canola Boosts Illinois Farmers' Profits, Sustainability

URBANA, Ill. — A new simulation study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests winter canola could be profitable and environmentally beneficial if added to a conventional corn-soy rotation in the U.S. Midwest.

"In the six months between fall harvest and spring planting, the land is just sitting there. Cover crops help protect the soil, but they don't typically generate revenue. A winter oilseed crop like canola could protect the soil and generate farm revenue by providing a feedstock for sustainable fuels," said senior study author D.K. Lee , professor in the Department of Crop Sciences , part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois.

The study simulated winter canola in a double-cropping system in Illinois. The research team used a model called DayCent to simulate the crop's performance under real environmental conditions measured between 2019 and 2024.

The model compared a conventional corn-soy rotation (scenario 0) with a corn-canola-soy rotation under four nitrogen fertilizer scenarios: scenario 1, with no added nitrogen during canola growth; scenario 2, with 112 kg nitrogen per hectare (kg N/ha) applied in spring; scenario 3, with 28 kg N/ha applied in fall and 112 kg N/ha in spring; and scenario 4, with 56 kg N/ha applied in fall and 112 kg N/ha in spring.

The study's integrated performance ranking — which scored all five scenarios simultaneously on yield, biomass, greenhouse gas intensity, total emissions, carbon balance, and net return — found that the diversified rotation with full-season nitrogen support for canola (scenario 4) outperformed the conventional rotation across productivity, carbon, and economics at once.

"The important finding isn't just that canola adds a harvest," said co-author Chunhwa Jang , a research scientist in Lee's group. "It's that the diversified system increases overall productivity by 18% while maintaining a stable greenhouse gas intensity. The additional production more than offsets the associated increase in greenhouse gas emissions."

Lee added, "Net ecosystem carbon balance shows whether a field is gaining or losing carbon overall. Across all the diversified cropping scenarios, this balance improved by about 21% to 27% and the benefits increased over time. The main reason was that canola provided more continuous plant cover and added carbon to the soil through its roots and crop residues."

In other words, overall emissions improved, and more carbon was stored with canola than without. Additionally, the paper reports that every diversified scenario out-earned the conventional rotation, with annual profits 10% to 23% higher.

Although the results are based on a simulation and still need to be validated by upcoming field trials in Lee's group, the researchers say the potential benefits of canola align well with new incentives and policies related to regenerative agriculture.

For example, a June 2026 White House Executive Order promises significant federal support for regenerative agriculture practices and research, and the USDA's Regenerative Feedstock Rule prioritizes feedstock crops with low carbon intensity.

"Currently, the Regenerative Feedstock Rule applies to spring canola, but if we show that winter canola can be just as beneficial for Midwestern farmers, perhaps the rule could be expanded," Lee said. "Introducing a winter oilseed crop in the Midwest would be hugely beneficial for farm revenues and more sustainable, low-carbon-intensity farming."

Lee added that winter canola is currently best suited for double cropping in southern Illinois, but with concerted breeding efforts for cold tolerance, its range could expand further north.

"I'm hoping to make more people aware that winter canola represents a real opportunity, so we can move that research ahead," he said.

The study, "Winter canola integration improves carbon balance, biomass, and profitability in Illinois corn–soybean systems," is published in Agricultural Systems [DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2026.104813 ]. Authors include Muhammad Umer Arshad, Soonho Hwang, Chunhwa Jang, Heesu Jeon, and DoKyoung Lee.

Research in the College of ACES is made possible in part by Hatch funding from USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. This study was also supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office, under award number DE-EE0008521.

Lee is also affiliated with the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois.