STANFORD, Ill. — Central Illinois farmers growing field pennycress – a new winter annual noted for its rich oil content – are seeing early maturation of the former nuisance weed that could lead to an early and bountiful harvest.

This is according to Brad Glenn, a McLean County producer who is president of Pennycress Partners, Inc. “We planted 1,400 acres across the midsection of Illinois (last fall) and we’re probably two or three weeks ahead of normal, growth-wise,” he said.

“Pennycress is like any other plant; it reacts to the heat. Hopefully that will translate into a (larger) harvest,” Glenn said last week, adding the normal harvest period for field pennycress in central Illinois doesn’t begin until June 1. “We will probably be a few weeks ahead of that, depending on the what the weather does from here on out.”

Most plots planted last fall by Glenn and the 20 farmers comprising Pennycress Partners are looking full and lush as harvest approaches, he said. The lack of known diseases or insect pests affecting pennycress hasn’t hurt matters any.

“The biggest threat to pennycress would be hail,” said Glenn. “A lot of the perils (other crops face), pennycress doesn’t have.”

Pennycress Partners is poised for significant growth this year, with a goal of 10,000 acres aerially seeded with pennycress during the fall. “I hope the current growers plant and grow more on their farms and that we broaden our base of farms as well,” Glenn reported.

Farmers interested in learning more about field pennycress and how implementing it into their crop rotation could benefit their operations may attend Western Illinois University’s (WIU) 2012 Pennycress Field Day, on May 17 at WIU’s Agriculture Field Laboratory on Tower Road in Macomb.

Researchers and industry representatives will be on hand to discuss WIU’s pennycress planting date studies, winter and spring variety trials, planting methods, winter and spring nitrogen treatments and results from WIU’s soybean-pennycress crop rotation study.

Led by Dr. Win Phippen, WIU’s pennycress research program works hand-in-hand with Pennycress Partners to identify the best strains of pennycress to plant according to region, and to develop pennycress production tools and techniques.

Current pennycress research experiments conducted by WIU include the effect of nitrogen rate on seed yield and oil content; the role of day length and temperature on vernalization, along with planting date, herbicide and soybean rotation studies; and an evaluation of planting methods and seeding rates.

In addition, Glenn said he’s looking forward to the post-harvest results of a USDA-funded study of full-field pennycress fertility tests being conducted by WIU researchers.

Guided tours of WIU’s pennycress plots will be offered during WIU’s 2012 Pennycress Field Day. No registration is required for this free event; however, those with questions or wishing to bring a large group should contact Phippen at 309-298-1251.