A well-known canola farmer was among those who died in the Jan. 29 plane crash in Washington, D.C.
Bob Schrock, Kiowa, Kansas, and his wife, Lori, died while en route to see their daughter, Ellie, a college student. Bob and Lori were among the 67 people who died when the passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk military helicopter collided outside of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. There were no survivors.
Michael Stamm, canola breeder at Kansas State University, has known Bob Schrock for nearly 20 years.
“Bob was an innovator and a pioneer of winter canola production in the Great Plains,” Stamm said. “He offered their farm to many research questions in search of ideas to improve canola production and cropping systems.”
Schrock hosted variety trials for the K-State canola breeding program for 10 years, and he allowed graduate students to carry out their studies in their fields. Because of his successes growing canola, he had the attention of numerous equipment manufacturers as he demonstrated new technologies.
“Neighbors and farmers from across the country reached out to him for advice,” Stamm said. “He was a founding member of the Great Plains Canola Association. We are all in mourning over the loss of Bob and Lori.”
Schrock was a featured canola presenter at the Journal’s first Canola U event in Midwest City, Oklahoma. He was profiled by former High Plains Journal writer Jennifer M. Latzke in a January 2011 story following the conference.
Canola is a crop with plants from 3 to 5 feet tall that produce pods from which seeds are harvested and crushed to create canola oil and meal. These plants also produce small, yellow flowers, which beautify the environment, according to the U.S. Canola Association.
During the 2011 conference, Schrock and other presenters discussed how a rotation of winter wheat and canola could benefit the bottom line of Southern Plains’ producers as he and fellow producer Jeff Scott of Pond Creek, Oklahoma, shared their findings.
“We’ve found that growing winter canola followed by two crops of wheat gives us a yield bump of about 20%, or 20 more bushels of wheat per acre,” Schrock said in a story reported by Latzke. “That second year of wheat we still see a significant yield bump, so you get two years of bonus wheat crop yield following canola.”
Not only are wheat yields greater, but quality is boosted as well, he added. And, without quality discounts for feral rye, growers have a larger paycheck from the elevator.
Dave Bergmeier can reached at 620-227-1822 or [email protected].
