Going forward with Oilseed Rape.

[Gong Farmer]

Farm saved seed drill it early, limited risk.

Then, six weeks later if it's a rape crop leave it. If not you have a green manure in front of a winter wheat or spring crop.

 

[jonnieboy]

Very much a wait and see this year
If we get bare ground mucked
If we have some moisture
If there’s no down pours on the horizon
Then I will whack some HSS in with CO
Cheap as chips
When it’s up I might tell agronomist

 

[ajd132]

Then, six weeks later if it's a rape crop leave it. If not you have a green manure in front of a winter wheat or spring crop.

I will put some buckwheat and berseem clover in with it at a cost of circa £15/ha. I would be going through anyway to plant some form of catch or cover crop. It will just include some farm saved rape seed. Maximum de-risk of financial.

 

[T Hectares]

Reduced area again this year, HSS + DD into chopped straw and long stubble will probably add a cover crop in so it’s not a complete waste of time drilling it if it fails

Will definitely drill early September here, most early drilled crops I’ve seen are wiped out in the spring by larvae after they have had there biggest spend, I’ve had 3 years of very little larvae damage from September sowings, these do suffer the usual perils of late drilling but it’s a safer option I feel, plus I won’t be cutting any wheat before mid August !!

My OSR while far from being perfect will still deliver a better return than Beans this year

 

[DrWazzock]

Hit me, baby, one more time.

 

[Banana Bar]

Then, six weeks later if it's a rape crop leave it. If not you have a green manure in front of a winter wheat or spring crop.

That’s what I think. My agronomist is telling me to drop it, my father is saying the same, my common sense is telling me the same.
I’ve got a 200 acre block of winter barley being cut next week with 25mm of rain forecast this week. It’s tempting.

BB

 

[Brisel]

Not bothering, a friend reckons he's going to have a go, says he's planning on drilling as soon as the combine leaves the field if moisture present, I told him it'll be in flower by Christmas along with the BG

Your friend might want to look up the life cycle of cabbage root fly.

 

[Farmer Roy]

I'm just sat here writting an article for the next Direct Driller magazine ......

If you want to see an example of successful implementation & near universal grower acceptance of IPM, you should check out the Australian cotton industry & the massive changes since the bad old days of the 90’s & earlier

 

[MrNoo]

Your friend might want to look up the life cycle of cabbage root fly.

I've told him it's a waste of time but fell on deaf ears, very few if any decent OSR crops around these parts

 

[ollie989898]

Anyone going to take advantage of these "nothing if it fails" offers then?

The cost of the seed is nearly a side issue. It's the cost of the work/fuel and chemical treatments. If you say that is ok, I don't use autumn residuals, no kerb or graminicides and won't spray it until I have a crop next spring etc etc etc then it's utility as a break crop is diminishing by the second?

Best breaks as we know are spring crops anyway. Sow a cheap cover crop to see it over the winter months and have a winter of shooting without worrying about slugs or pigeons.

 

[Brisel]

I've told him it's a waste of time but fell on deaf ears, very few if any decent OSR crops around these parts

He's partially right but there has been a lot of root fly damage to the very early sown osr in the last couple of years even if the flea beetle doesn't affect it as much. There is absolutely nothing you can do about root fly other than not sow before mid August.

 

[texelburger]

I have had two goes at drilling kale this spring, both failed due to drought and flea beetle. You just get to the point where you have had enough.
My beet has had two doses of sprayed on environmentally damaging insecticide because the neonic coating was banned. That spray programme has killed more beneficials than the seed coating ever did but it still got enough aphids into it to bring in loads of virus. I am not cheerful about it. I can’t find anything cheerful to say about it. It’s a crock of shite of Michael Gove’s making.
Rant over.

And yet we continue to import crops grown with the benefit of neonic treatment.

 

[ajd132]

Just a point to remember when we are moaning about neonics going. The Canadians are starting to see serious resistance problems with it now and are trying to spray on insecticides which aren’t working.
This is an inevitability.

 

[chipchap]

Very interesting comments everybody. It seems harvest 2021 will be considerably light in rapeseed.

 

[DrWazzock]

He's partially right but there has been a lot of root fly damage to the very early sown osr in the last couple of years even if the flea beetle doesn't affect it as much. There is absolutely nothing you can do about root fly other than not sow before mid August.

I particularly noticed the root fly damage on my OSR volunteers that I sprayed off in January this year to drill my wheat. The roots were completely devoid of root hairs, and each root pulled straight out of the ground like a stick. Plants almost dead.
I am old enough to remember combine drilling phorate granules in the MF30 with OSR. Then it was decided that drilling no earlier than 23 august provided adequate protection against root fly and that horrible stinky chemical wasn’t needed.

 

[Daniel]

Just a point to remember when we are moaning about neonics going. The Canadians are starting to see serious resistance problems with it now and are trying to spray on insecticides which aren’t working.
This is an inevitability.

I know you think we've farmed ourselves into a corner with chemicals. But I can't see how neonics, which worked, in sugarbeet - a non flowering crop - were a problem. We lost them, and now they are riddled with virus yellows.

 

[ajd132]

I know you think we've farmed ourselves into a corner with chemicals. But I can't see how neonics, which worked, in sugarbeet - a non flowering crop - were a problem. We lost them, and now they are riddled with virus yellows.

How long until they stopped working on beet?
I am have a friend who is involved with a really diverse business that grow about 40 crops conventional and organically. I think it was the cabbages recently they had to spray repeatedly for aphids and couldn’t get on top Of them, the organic cabbages have had much less pressure. This is all abit anecdotal but I’ve observed it on my organic neighbours farm that he seems to have a lot less insect pressure.
I honestly do think w have farmed ourselves into a corner with insecticides Atleast. We are no further ahead than 80 years ago, if anything it worse.
The U.K. should ban all insecticides.

 

[Daniel]

How long until they stopped working on beet?
I am have a friend who is involved with a really diverse business that grow about 40 crops conventional and organically. I think it was the cabbages recently they had to spray repeatedly for aphids and couldn’t get on top Of them, the organic cabbages have had much less pressure. This is all abit anecdotal but I’ve observed it on my organic neighbours farm that he seems to have a lot less insect pressure.
I honestly do think w have farmed ourselves into a corner with insecticides Atleast. We are no further ahead than 80 years ago, if anything it worse.
The U.K. should ban all insecticides.

I don't know, but they were still working when they were banned.

Banning them will reduce the area of beet grown in the UK and increase the amount of sugar imported from the rest of the world. Who knows what chemicals they use to produce it, or how much fuel is burnt to get it here.

 

[ajd132]

I don't know, but they were still working when they were banned.

Banning them will reduce the area of beet grown in the UK and increase the amount of sugar imported from the rest of the world. Who knows what chemicals they use to produce it, or how much fuel is burnt to get it here.

Maybe things will balance out?

 

[yellow belly]

The only solution to rape growing if for everyone not to grow it for 2 years
then every one grows it then 2 years break
whole country would need total cooperation

it will never happen even at a county or regional level would work
5 miles is a good break distance