Written by cpm
Download PDF In the struggle to get respectable crops in the face of attack by cabbage stem flea beetle, the remarkable resilience of growers shines through. CPM picks out some of the success stories. Horrendous as 2019/20 was, it really only reinforced the importance of a number of key things we’ve learnt about OSR establishment. By Tom Allen-Stevens and Rob Jones Two farms in different parts of the country both suffered badly from cabbage stem flea beetle over the past two seasons, but neither lost a significant proportion of their oilseed rape crop as a result. The Mzuri focus at Springfield Farms is on creating a suitable micro-climate for young seedlings from the start by drilling into 200-250mm of standing straw. On each farm, the crops have very different establishment approaches, but neither made radical changes to their systems to deal with the problem. The focus instead was put on getting the basics of OSR establishment spot on for their situations. Strip-tilled stubbles Flea beetle pressure at Springfield Farms in Worcestershire’s Vale of Evesham was exceptional last season. The black legions marched out of the grain store in an endless stream after the 2019 harvest, presented serious challenges throughout establishment,…
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