Growing rape in the olden days

[Flat 10]

Now I wouldn't know anything about growing OSR in the 1980's but the impression I get is plough and drill 1st week sep. 30 units N and then, jollop of N in the spring, swath it and bob's your uncle 30cwt an acre. I have several questions; was it really like this? No S due to Acid Rain? Were there problems with CSFB? Neonics hadn't been invented so did pyrethroids work? I know further back people used to lose kale crops to CSFB regularly so its not like they weren't around. Also the rape varieties weren't double low were they? So less palatable to pigeons and CSFB? Or is this a red herring?Find anything about this interesting. i will tag @Two Tone because I'm sure he will have something good to say but all contributions welcomed........

 

[spin cycle]

did my sandwich year on a very heavy farm in worcs.....only thing boss worried about was pigeons and combining......my job was to bait/check slug traps in nov.....only pellets used were in the traps....now blackgrass either......wanna know why

 

[Two Tone]

Now I wouldn't know anything about growing OSR in the 1980's but the impression I get is plough and drill 1st week sep. 30 units N and then, jollop of N in the spring, swath it and bob's your uncle 30cwt an acre. I have several questions; was it really like this? No S due to Acid Rain? Were there problems with CSFB? Neonics hadn't been invented so did pyrethroids work? I know further back people used to lose kale crops to CSFB regularly so its not like they weren't around. Also the rape varieties weren't double low were they? So less palatable to pigeons and CSFB? Or is this a red herring?Find anything about this interesting. i will tag @Two Tone because I'm sure he will have something good to say but all contributions welcomed........

Thank you (or not)!
Surprisingly, when we first grew OSR in he 80’s, most of it was Direct drilled with a Betinson 3D.
The variety was a Single Low called Jet Neuf. Draza Slug pellets were applied with the seed in the drill.
We pe-em sprayed with a product called Tekane to clobber cereal Volunteers and Blackgrass, which wasn’t anything like the problem it eventually became.
Benazalox was sprayed in the spring to control BLW’s.
Nitrogen rates were a little higher than we were used to on cereals then, but were about 150 units/acre,split into 2 doses 1/3 then 2/3, the other way round from today.
Reglone was used to desiccate the crop in in 300 litres of water/ha.

After a few failed crop establishments due to dry conditions, ploughing took over from DD to be able to plant the crop in moisture.

Slugs and pigeons were just as much of a problem as they have always been. I can’t remember CSFB as a problem. Insecticide usage was a hell of a lot less than now even for every other type of insect problem.

Amazingly, yields were as good if not better then than they tend to be today! 30cwt/acre was the norm without trying too hard to get it.

It was a much easily crop to grow then.

PS, forgot to add that it was planted in mid August.

 

[crazy_bull]

did my sandwich year on a very heavy farm in worcs.....only thing boss worried about was pigeons and combining......my job was to bait/check slug traps in nov.....only pellets used were in the traps....now blackgrass either......wanna know why

C B

 

[spin cycle]

C B

in one

 

[DRC]

My dad was one of the first to grow it around here. Neighbours thought he’d got a field of kedlock ( Shropshire for charlock). Jet Neuf, pretty much as you said .
I remember combining a field on the laverda 132 with no cab, and returning home looking like I’d auditioned for the black and white minstrels ( younger viewers may need to google that). Think I was about 16, so 1978.

 

[Two Tone]

We had 2 combines. One was a NH 1545 and the other was a 1530. Somebody gave me a Rape (lower) sieve for the 1530 which made it give a superb sample. We only used this combine to harvest the rape.
We also used a 12 volt hedge trimmer as a side knife.
The header Reel would not go high enough to stop it shedding a lot of seed. Putting an extension on would have made it hit the cab, so I took it off altogether. It fed into the combine really well. But it was a standing crop, which helped a lot.

Many dryers could not cope with wet rape, because it fell through the holes. So we were encouraged to take it to places like Debage Enterprizes who would dry it and store it for us. We were told that it must not be kept at over 11% moisture for more than 24 hours. So we delivered it on the same day we harvested it. They stayed open till 11pm.

It quickly earned the name of Black Gold!

 

[Acke]

Dad told me in the mid -50s that it was very profitable and unusual to grow . He drive big Mercedes Benz when no other drive such cars! Both Spring and Winter Rape.

I like black gold !

 

[Bobthebuilder]

Stubble/straw burning helped get rid of weed seeds and slugs and got off to a good clean start, pigeons were the main problem, apart from if your swaths got wet

 

[deleted user 837354]

C B

That burning sorted nearly anything.

 

[DRC]

My dad was one of the first to grow it around here. Neighbours thought he’d got a field of kedlock ( Shropshire for charlock). Jet Neuf, pretty much as you said .
I remember combining a field on the laverda 132 with no cab, and returning home looking like I’d auditioned for the black and white minstrels ( younger viewers may need to google that). Think I was about 16, so 1978.

Interestingly , one of my farming neighbours, was once in the black and white minstrels !

 

[Acke]

Burning straw still legal in Sweden before drilling wosr!

 

[Two Tone]

Burning straw still legal in Sweden before drilling wosr!

I think it was 1990 when it became illegal to burn straw in the UK.
Burning definitely helped not only control Blackgrass, but also in getting Direct drilling to establish OSR. If you didn’t get a good burn between the rows of straw, the rape would struggle to establish.

Straw chopping killed DD and tools such as the Howard Paraplow and saw a massive return to ploughing. Tools such as the Haylock Triple task and discing, could not cope with chopped straw.

Ploughed in chopped straw helped break up heavy land and saved on P&K fertilisers. Some thought adding N in the seedbed helped it break down. But it wasn’t necessary.

I remember ploughing up last years chopped straw. But all it was, was the lignin and it caused absolutely no problem at all. Apart that was from a sudden increase in Blackgrass control. IPU and Dicurane, suddenly became not sufficient enough without the need for other additional products like Pre Kite or Post Kite, which included with the IPU, additional chems DFF and CMPP to help get the job done. Other good products contained IPU and Simazine. Adding Stomp or Triflurolin worked even better.

Kerb became popular as an OSR herbicide, but a graminicide was needed to take out Volunteer cereals, before the ground became cool enough to use Kerb.

Then, as if to answer Chem disturbers prayers to get us to spend even more money before Xmas, Butisan was invented!

 

[Bax]

My father planted his first crop in 1975 he is now 93. He said burn the straw and stubble, broadcast 3 cwt/ of 17/17/17 direct drill with a Bettinson dd drill, Kerb in Nov, 4 cwt/ acre of Nitram in March shut the gate until the week after the Royal Show then swath it when it was the colour of a hare's back and combine. Pigeons were a problem, flea beetles were around but seldom caused much bother. Plenty of proper insecticides around in those days and no leraps or crop assurance. Happy days.

 

[Bogweevil]

I forget everything nowadays age or gin, I don't know, but pretty sure we tipped a bag of lindane seed dressing in the hopper, stirred it with a stick and farewell flea beetles.

 

[teslacoils]

I can remember it in the late 80s. Winter barley first, discs twice, power Harrow, roll. Drill early September. Was not a common crop - mainly as our farm was very sandy there and was usually beet, pea, spring barley or let for potatos when not wheat.

 

[MrNoo]

Burnt and then direct drilled with the old Massey direct drill, me being about 14 years old would be on the rolls, if it was dry then we'd use a flat roll, if a bit of moisture about it'd be the Cambridge rolls. Used to mix pellets in with the seed I seem to remember. Always seemed to get away ok.
We swathed as my father had built one just as OSR came out, he did a lot of contract cutting as no one else really knew what to do with the crop pre harvest in the early days.

 

[Cowcorn]

around 1980 was our first stab at growing rape. Drilled following w barley . We mixed the seed with 10 10 20 in the fert box of the massey 30 as we didnt have a small seed shaft at the time .
It grew very tall and yielded around 30 cwt acre . Best to stay imperial when were getting nostalgic !!! Cant remember what weed spray was used but apart from 2 splits of N in the spring the gate was closed till the swather. No fungicide was deemed nessecary by the crop advisers a situtation which didnt last for long .

 

[David.]

We didn't grow any back in those halcyon days as we had spuds for a break, but knew somebody that did. Plough, 3cwt of 17-17-17, disc and roll and Roterra a few times, drill at 7lb/ac and roll twice. Butisan for poppy, Metasystox granules on surface for flea beetle. Fusilade for barley volunteers. Kerb later for grass weeds.
About 4.5 cwt/ac Nitram in spring. Can remember them helicopter spraying with Rovral Flo (I think) or similar for Sclerotinia/Alternaria. Approaching 2ton/ac yield with Jet Neuf or Biennvenue, @£360 ton in good years.
Been going backwards ever since....

 

[Banana Bar]

In the 80s if you drilled OSR you could almost guarantee 4t/ha at harvest.
We used to burn the straw, nip through with a shallow paraplow and then combi drill. This was followed up with a pre em of Trifluralin and Nata and a good dose of 17-17-17. Easy peasy.
I would love to try a ha of Jet Neuf in the middle of a block now, I bet it would romp away.