2018 - Flea beetle attacks in OSR

[Brisel]

Source http://www.cropmonitor.co.uk/wosr/encyclopaedia/view_entry.cfm?id=13

 

[Grass And Grain]

I have found hallmark to work perfectly this year.

 

[Hampton]

This is the ONLY way to grow OSR in mist of the uk any more - any other approach is simply madness of the absolute maddest kind

Yet so many still line up to spend £1000’s on seed and then apply sprays we know don’t work and in fact just make other issues like slugs worse !

I dispare some days. It’s like watching lemmings !

If this industry was a person I would throw a glass of cold water in its face, slap it hard and tell it to wake the f@! up before it’s too late !

Considering you two chaps are historically big Clearfield users, your above post doesn't make sense, or you are breaking the law!
Erucic acid levels have meant I could not grow my own rapeseed this year so had to buy. I bought a variety called flamingo off Frontier as they "gave" me a free crush storage deal in with the price of the seed. Next years rape crop will move off farm at harvest and I can price it at any time between now and may 31st 2020.

 

[Clive]

Considering you two chaps are historically big Clearfield users, your above post doesn't make sense, or you are breaking the law!
Erucic acid levels have meant I could not grow my own rapeseed this year so had to buy. I bought a variety called flamingo off Frontier as they "gave" me a free crush storage deal in with the price of the seed. Next years rape crop will move off farm at harvest and I can price it at any time between now and may 31st 2020.

I used clearfield very effectively for a couple years to clean up some of my land - they have a place for sure, in combination with zero till we were able to move on and grow none clearfield varieties without charlock issues on land that historically had big (yield crippling) charlock problems under deep cultivation systems

we have grown conventional varieties for a few years since then and farmed saved from it

certainly breaking no laws here !

 

[John]

I don't think that's how it works officially........ Think about it, if you bought fresh seed the royalty is paid before you ever put it in the ground, regardless whether you get a crop or not. I think @warksfarmer was covering himself....

Simples you don’t tell them till you have a crop

 

[principal skinner]

Considering you two chaps are historically big Clearfield users, your above post doesn't make sense, or you are breaking the law!
Erucic acid levels have meant I could not grow my own rapeseed this year so had to buy. I bought a variety called flamingo off Frontier as they "gave" me a free crush storage deal in with the price of the seed. Next years rape crop will move off farm at harvest and I can price it at any time between now and may 31st 2020.

Do tell more about this as it wasn’t offered to me when I bought 100kgs of flamingo. Have you had an invoice for it yet, they know how to charge!

 

[An Gof]

If you could turn around and ask for your royalties back due to failed crop from flee Beatles it would put pressure on the seed breeders to actually come up with a solution quicker otherwise keep selling seed to redrill happy days.

When I visited the States a few years ago looking at GM Crops we were told a Pioneer seed rep on a farm we visited that if you bought a Bt trait and the crop failed Pioneer would replace seed for refriing FOC. Seemed a fair approach. But with stacked traits the seed cost on corn can be very significant.

 

[SilliamWhale]

I totally agree with the sentiments about not front loading growing costs.

What would someone who does a full cultivation, uses hybrids/ pellets and a pre em have spent by now? £100 acre? More probably.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Do tell more about this as it wasn’t offered to me when I bought 100kgs of flamingo. Have you had an invoice for it yet, they know how to charge!

They're taking the pee because they can. OSR Conv seed costs are not reasonable at all. Its a ballgrabbing and squeezing exercise in the way that cereals, beans and potato seed sales don't do. The more you can exercise your right to use good farm saved seed is the only way they will take notice of seed prices being too high

 

[Flat 10]

They're taking the pee because they can. OSR Conv seed costs are not reasonable at all. Its a ballgrabbing and squeezing exercise in the way that cereals, beans and potato seed sales don't do. The more you can exercise your right to use good farm saved seed is the only way they will take notice of seed prices being too high

Growing OSR seed (commercially) is a ball ache though and the growers deserve some premium....

 

[Trying]

Are cover crops exabarating the problem? Or is it just weather conditions are perfect for them?

We had some volunteer rape in a field of spuds we’ve hired and they were getting hammered right from the start this year. The plants did keep going though. Although I guess they wouldn’t have made a commercial crop yield.

A neighbour hired his field out to a grower who had rape on it last year. He left the self sets on there this year and harvested it. It didn’t have any sprays at all, only round up at the end. This would be a perfect host crop would it not?

Wot sort of yield did he get?

 

[Hampton]

Do tell more about this as it wasn’t offered to me when I bought 100kgs of flamingo. Have you had an invoice for it yet, they know how to charge!

Have had seed invoice and storage contract info.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Growing OSR seed (commercially) is a ball ache though and the growers deserve some premium....

Yes absolutely they do. I presume stubble turnip/rape growers get a premium from what they grow?

 

[Pilatus]

Is their a theoretical idea, that if one plants a certain type of companion crop ( can’t remember what the crop is) with the rape seed that it is meant in theory to deter flea beetle??
Although only a hedge farmer I wondered if theory works at all in practice.

 

[Brisel]

White mustard?

 

[Flat 10]

Yes absolutely they do. I presume stubble turnip/rape growers get a premium from what they grow?

Good point. My point i was trying to make is there's a lot of faff for breeder and grower to get a commercial seed crop of OSR grown (including no OSR for 20 years? maybe)

 

[SilliamWhale]

Good point. My point i was trying to make is there's a lot of faff for breeder and grower to get a commercial seed crop of OSR grown (including no OSR for 20 years? maybe)

I'd be interested to know

 

[MrNoo]

What do the organic mob do? Spray it with garlic or chilli or something or are they not stupid enough to grow it? Stuff re-drilled on Friday is emerging today and no sign of damage this afternoon. redrilled another couple of fields today, will roll tomorrow and see what becomes of it. Hopefully the rain due tomorrow and the weekend may slow the buggers down.

 

[DrWazzock]

Last time I grew OSR I flat rolled the dry cloddy areas with the grassland roller and it didn't do the rape any harm when it had a couple of true leaves. It might have helped reduce the cover for the beetles but I didn't really have an untreated control so couldn't say for definite whether it worked. Looked right though, to see it smooth and beetles unable to find shelter.

This year I have found min tilled fallows devoid of any trash or vegetation to be worst for flea beetle damage. Direct drilled into stubbles looks OK.

Stubble turnips direct drilled in early August didn't really suffer any damage at all. Maybe earlier drilling is a help.

I think drilling in third week of August hits peak flea beetle numbers here.

Clover in grass leys has huge numbers of flea beetle here. They are grazing it. Brush a few leaves to one side and they are everywhere.

 

[DrWazzock]

Rain would help a lot here. Gets the rape away and the beetles don't seem to like it.