New Canola Variety Targets Heat and Drought
June 24, 2025
GREAT FALLS, MT — Farmers, agribusiness leaders, and rural advocates gathered in Great Falls for the launch of BASF’s newest canola innovation—InVigor® Gold, a yellow-seeded canola hybrid tailored for the Northern Great Plains. The event marked a major step forward in expanding crop options for Montana growers, while also opening the door to new market opportunities in renewable energy and soil health.
Developed through decades of research by BASF plant breeders and scientists, InVigor Gold is designed to thrive in hotter, drier environments—conditions common across much of Montana. The hybrid brings together shatter resistance, blackleg disease protection, and strong heat tolerance, allowing it to be grown on acres that may have previously sat fallow, giving producers a new income source.
“We saw a need,” said Bryan Perry, BASF’s Head of U.S. Seeds and Traits. “There’s a big opportunity in canola, and we wanted to provide a solution that helps farmers adapt to these conditions and meet growing demand.”
Watch on YouTube:
With its LibertyLink® herbicide tolerance and ability to mature up to 10 days earlier than traditional canola, the new variety is especially well-suited for dryland systems. According to BASF Seed Agronomist Matt Smith, canola’s deep roots improve soil health, enhance nutrient cycling, and support future cereal crops.
“Canola is one of the deepest-rooted rotational crops Montana can grow,” said Smith. “It opens up soil structure and brings added benefits from sulfur applications—all while offering another herbicide mode of action in the fight against resistant weeds like kochia.”
Montana farmers like Dale Flikkema, who serves as first vice president of the U.S. Canola Association, are already seeing the potential.
“One day in the field can make a big difference,” said Flikkema. “What excites me most is how InVigor Gold can help us use moisture more effectively and bring new flexibility to our cropping systems.”
Beyond the farm gate, InVigor Gold is poised to support renewable fuel production in Montana. Its premium oil makes it an ideal feedstock for companies like Montana Renewables, which is working to expand its production of renewable jet fuel and biofuels.
“If we used only canola oil, we’d need over 1.5 million acres today,” said Krista Lee Evans, VP of Government Relations for Montana Renewables. “That demand could double with our expansion plans. We want to use local feedstocks—and canola fits perfectly.”
Governor Greg Gianforte also praised the innovation, calling it a win for Montana’s number one industry.
“This gives farmers new options—not just for food and feed, but for fuel,” Gianforte said. “BASF’s work here will help drive rural economic growth and agricultural sustainability.”
In field trials from 2022 to 2024, InVigor Gold out-yielded traditional canola by an average of 8% in challenging soils across the Northern Great Plains and Canada’s brown soil zone. If approved, the hybrid is expected to be available to U.S. farmers by 2027.
For more information on InVigor Gold and BASF’s canola research, visit WesternAgNetwork.com.
