Pennycress An Ideal Cover, Production Crop

2021 - Volume #45, Issue #6, Page #04

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CoverCress Inc. of St. Louis, Mo., has developed wild pennycress into a combination of a cover and production crop to improve soil without displacing other crops. They call it CoverCress.
    “In the late 1990’s, the USDA was looking for alternate sources of oilseed that could help manage food and feed concerns,” says Chris Aulbach, farmer relations and agronomy representative for CoverCress. “They investigated many different options and pennycress was one they thought had potential.”
    Aulbach explains pennycress is a winter annual with a high oil content that’s been improved through domestication.
    The company got its start in 2013. Initially, they gathered seed by driving the countryside and pulling wild pennycress out of ditches. Since then, the company has been concentrating on research and development, improving the qualities of the feed and oil content through breeding and gene editing.
    “To be clear - CoverCress is first and foremost a grain crop. The cover crop value is added because it grows during the winter season,” Aulbach says. “When crops are coming off in the fall, growers can plant CoverCress, and it won’t be competing with corn or soybeans. Then it’s harvested in the spring. It gives soil protection and captures nutrients.”
    In 2022, they’ll be signing contracts for growers to raise their launch crop in central Illinois. It’ll be their target area for the fall of 2022. The crop will be harvested in the spring of 2023.
    He explains CoverCress Inc. will provide the seed to growers free of charge. Farmers will be tasked with fertilizing, planting and harvesting the crop.
    “We want the grower to treat this crop like they would their other cover crops. The biggest difference is they don’t have to buy the seed. The goal is to deliver bushels of grain that we’ll all get paid for on the back end. We’re going into this as a business venture, sharing the risk with the farmers because we’re providing the seed.”
    “We’re doing a scaled ramp up so 2022 will be phase one as we get more growers excited about the crop and establish more places to deliver the grain. The fall of 2023 will hopefully see more acres. Our goal is to be on several hundred thousand acres in the next few years, upward of a million in 5 to 10 years or less.”
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Chris Aulbach, CoverCress Inc., 1249 N. Warson Rd., St. Louis, Mo. 63132 (ph 314-222-1403; info@covercress.com; www.covercress.com).

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Pennycress An Ideal Cover Production Crop CROPS New Techniques CoverCress Inc of St Louis Mo has developed wild pennycress into a combination of a cover and production crop to improve soil without displacing other crops They call it CoverCress “In the late 1990’s the USDA was looking for alternate sources of oilseed that could help manage food and feed concerns ” says Chris Aulbach farmer relations and agronomy representative for CoverCress “They investigated many different options and pennycress was one they thought had potential ” Aulbach explains pennycress is a winter annual with a high oil content that’s been improved through domestication The company got its start in 2013 Initially they gathered seed by driving the countryside and pulling wild pennycress out of ditches Since then the company has been concentrating on research and development improving the qualities of the feed and oil content through breeding and gene editing “To be clear - CoverCress is first and foremost a grain crop The cover crop value is added because it grows during the winter season ” Aulbach says “When crops are coming off in the fall growers can plant CoverCress and it won’t be competing with corn or soybeans Then it’s harvested in the spring It gives soil protection and captures nutrients ” In 2022 they’ll be signing contracts for growers to raise their launch crop in central Illinois It’ll be their target area for the fall of 2022 The crop will be harvested in the spring of 2023 He explains CoverCress Inc will provide the seed to growers free of charge Farmers will be tasked with fertilizing planting and harvesting the crop “We want the grower to treat this crop like they would their other cover crops The biggest difference is they don’t have to buy the seed The goal is to deliver bushels of grain that we’ll all get paid for on the back end We’re going into this as a business venture sharing the risk with the farmers because we’re providing the seed ” “We’re doing a scaled ramp up so 2022 will be phase one as we get more growers excited about the crop and establish more places to deliver the grain The fall of 2023 will hopefully see more acres Our goal is to be on several hundred thousand acres in the next few years upward of a million in 5 to 10 years or less ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Chris Aulbach CoverCress Inc 1249 N Warson Rd St Louis Mo 63132 ph 314-222-1403; info@covercress com; www covercress com

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