THE CANOLA INDUSTRY has truly been transformed in recent years with the introduction of high oleic varieties, but canola breeders are not sitting on their laurels, especially with high oleic soybeans on the horizon. In the wake of trans fats and hydrogen- ated oils being phased out in the global food industry, the creation of high oleic (HO) canola oil, with its low-saturated fat content (about 7 percent) and some omega fatty acids, was very timely. These days, HO oil is used extensively by food product manufacturers and fast food chains, highly prized for its clean flavor and the way it leaves food textures unchanged. It is also an extremely stable IS THE NEXT OIL WAR IMMINENT? Demand for canola oil has skyrocketed with the introduction of high oleic varieties some years ago, but will high oleic soybeans give it a run for its money? Treena Hein treenahein@outlook.com oil that can be used for frying over a long period of time. While there isn’t a strong industry focus on further enhancing the oil pro- file of HO canola according to Curtis Rempel, vice president of crop production and innovation at the Canola Council of Canada, there is a little breeding activity still happening. Cargill, for example, has been developing an HO canola oil with a very low level of saturated fat, about 4.5 percent. The firm’s canola R&D director, Lorin Debonte, says it has a monosatu- rated fat profile similar to olive oil. For its part, Monsanto says it’s relatively new to the HO arena and is finalizing its long- term plans. 14 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2018 Where the HO canola breeding focus seems to lie these days is in efforts to defend it against the possible introduc- tion of HO soybean varieties in Canada. It’s all about adding better resistance to disease, lower pod shatter rates and making other improvements to existing HO canola varieties, says Rempel, “to make sure they are the best-performing, agronomically.” Dow AgroSciences, now a part of Corteva Agriscience, is for example working to improve its locally adapted HO canola varieties, making yield and resistance to clubroot and blackleg as high as possible, says the company’s grains and oils commercial leader, David