Hybrid canola seed production is a process where seed companies contract with producers to plant and grow male and female parent plants which cross-pollinate to produce canola with specific and controlled traits. Hybrid canola seed has been grown in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Washington and Idaho for the past 20 years and more recently in parts of Montana and North Dakota. Some 2013 estimates put the amount of U.S. acreage contracted at around 30,000 acres.