Forever Green Initiative and AURI to host Virtual Field Days on new winter annual oilseeds

The University of Minnesota Forever Green Initiative (Forever Green) and the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) will host a series of interactive webinars highlighting new winter annual oilseed research and development starting Tuesday.

Winter camelina (Camelina sativa) and pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) are new winter-hardy annual oilseeds with great potential for use as cash cover crops that keep the land in continuous living cover while providing economic benefits to farmers in the Upper Midwest. Webinar attendees will learn about current breeding and agronomic efforts, as well as food and end use applications, market opportunities and industry interest. Attendees will also be able to participate in an interactive question and answer session with UMN researchers and industry experts during each webinar.

It is possible to process winter camelina into oil for human consumption and animal feed, as well as for bioplastics, biofuel and cosmetics. Winter camelina meal, the by-product from oil extraction, already has approval for animal feed, including swine, poultry and aquaculture. Pennycress has similar applications and research is showing that it may be more winter hardy than winter camelina. Scientists are also looking at both crops as a potential source for new, plant-based proteins.

In the past Forever Green and AURI hosted on-site Field Day events to showcase oilseed research, however with COVID-19 restrictions in place researchers are shifting their presentations online. The event hosts are now planning webinars. Each session will cover a different set of topics with a recording made available for later viewing.

The first session highlighted oilseed breeding, agronomics and environmental benefits. The second webinar will go into depth on food science and end use applications and will feature a cooking demonstration featuring culinary professional, Beth Dooley. The third session will highlight supply chain and market development, including oil and meal extraction at AURI’s facilities in Waseca, and a discussion with industry leadership working with winter camelina and pennycress.

Registration is required to view and participate in the webinars. Registration links are as follows:

Session Two: Food Science and End-Use Applications; Cooking Demo with Beth Dooley

Tuesday, June 2, from 12:30-2 p.m.

Registration: https://z.umn.edu/foodsci

Session Three: Supply Chain and Market Development; Industry Interest

Tuesday, June 9, from 12:30-2 p.m.

Registration: https://z.umn.edu/supplychaindev

Participants will receive a confirmation email once they have registered.

For more information, contact Connie Carlson at 612-709-6790 or by email at carl5114@umn.edu

This webinar series event is made possible by support from USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture competitive grant # (2019-69012-29851), NRCS, CIG, NIFA and NCR-SARE.