How’s your OSR looking now

[Brisel]

Looks good. Any good OSR that I've seen was sown v early August, I drilled mine the 1st week of September for one reason or another and the whole lot failed. Perhaps sewage sludge is part of the answer.

Both fields I wrote off were partly due to sewage cake application. Delays in the crew getting here to spread it meant it was sown in the first week in September, and the later the sowing date the worse the damage from grazing. I ran the Claydon straight into the treated stubble and double rolled within 24 hours but the CSFB ate it as it emerged despite 21mm of rain 3 days after drilling. There have been lots of good stories about better success where manures & slurry were used but perhaps some of this is down to higher inherent soil fertility where there has been a long history of organic matter applications. @l'ordinary bonville uses lots of slurry on his but lost a fair chunk.

Sewage cake isn't high in readily available N. NVZ regs mean you can't add any bagged fertiliser after pre drilling applications. I use liquid N pre drilling on the rest & this got the crop up & away quickly.

 

[T Hectares]

I really don't think there are any "answers"
It seems to be pot luck!!
I only posted these as they were nearly a write off in Jan, they have recovered as they don't have much larvae in them, it's a trade off between CSFB adult grazing in the autumn and having a manageable level of larvae in the spring, the sludge is of more use in the late winter/early spring as its releasing N then to keep the crop ticking along rather than a boost in the autumn.

 

[Brisel]

There was quite a good set of bullet points in the latest Agrii bulletin that dropped through my letter box a few days ago. I skimmed through it then binned it, so I can't post a pic. IIRC the main points were;

• Sow by moisture not date - this is entirely sensible IMHO
• Conserve moisture
• Seedbed fertiliser
• Seed dressings & biostimulants - well, they would, wouldn't they!
• Vigorous varieties - again, they sell seed, so a vested interest
• Companion crops
• Long stubble - green on brown seems to be more susceptible to attack. Camouflage seems to have some effect
• Sacrificial headlands of another brassica
• Retain osr volunteers nearby
• Consider block cropping for the dilution effect of incoming swarms of flying beetles

There may be a couple of other points I've forgotten too. Unsurprisingly, they didn't recommend avoiding big pre em herbicides that slow crop growth down in the first couple of months of life.

 

[chipchap]

Here it is

 

[Trying]

Funny old year!!
I was touch and go with this block of OSR and it's got a few patches in it but it's recovered so well, Sept 7th drilled and has very little larvae, VC cost is about £240/ha including the sludge, no fungicide spend this spring
I'm not expecting FW type yields but I sold a good chunk of it before values dropped and I'm sure it will beat my Winter Beans GM this year
Spring rape got away from the FB and is holding on in, but it's the lack of BLW herbicide options that's making it really unattractive ( and the pollen beetle onslaught is about to start ) it's OK but not something I'll be repeating!! View attachment 883113View attachment 883114View attachment 883115

Don’t want to pee on anyone’s matches but been really pleased with mine all year. But don’t think I’ll break any records when you rip open a pod there are lots with 30-40%blank seed within pod. Those what are ok within said pods look nice and big. Will post a pic another day.

 

[T Hectares]

Don’t want to pee on anyone’s matches but been really pleased with mine all year. But don’t think I’ll break any records when you rip open a pod there are lots with 30-40%blank seed within pod. Those what are ok within said pods look nice and big. Will post a pic another day.

What area are you in @Trying ??
How have you grown it etc etc...

 

[Trying]

What area are you in @Trying ??
How have you grown it etc etc...

Cambridgeshire. Fen’s.
Catros diced into stubble. Had no problem with FB and minimal larvae.
I hope the amount of pods will make up alittle.
Time will tell.
Have you had a look at yours?

 

[T Hectares]

Not bad, there's a few pod midge/ frosted / starling damaged pods, but nothing much.

I just accept 5t/ha is not realistic and spend accordingly, it's still my best break crop for profitability

 

[Renaultman]

Both fields I wrote off were partly due to sewage cake application. Delays in the crew getting here to spread it meant it was sown in the first week in September, and the later the sowing date the worse the damage from grazing. I ran the Claydon straight into the treated stubble and double rolled within 24 hours but the CSFB ate it as it emerged despite 21mm of rain 3 days after drilling. There have been lots of good stories about better success where manures & slurry were used but perhaps some of this is down to higher inherent soil fertility where there has been a long history of organic matter applications. @l'ordinary bonville uses lots of slurry on his but lost a fair chunk.

Sewage cake isn't high in readily available N. NVZ regs mean you can't add any bagged fertiliser after pre drilling applications. I use liquid N pre drilling on the rest & this got the crop up & away quickly.

This is what I am going to do either just before or just after drilling.

 

[Gong Farmer]

Here it is

Wow, pushing hybrids and (compulsory) biostimulant seed treatments, that's a massive up-front investment. Exactly what you don't need in these situations.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Wow, pushing hybrids and (compulsory) biostimulant seed treatments, that's a massive up-front investment. Exactly what you don't need in these situations.

I don't want to up front invest in anything anymore. I've proved to myself enough times that farm saved seed of all types isn't inferior and a that anything beyond a herbicide before March or even April of a crops life can be deemed "non essential" or marginal.

Marginal gains appear to increase someone else' margin more than my own!

 

[T Hectares]

And spraying the Larvae

 

[Brisel]

And spraying the Larvae

That's impossible with current available chemistry.

 

[Clive]

I don't want to up front invest in anything anymore. I've proved to myself enough times that farm saved seed of all types isn't inferior and a that anything beyond a herbicide before March or even April of a crops life can be deemed "non essential" or marginal.

Marginal gains appear to increase someone else' margin more than my own!

post of the month award right here !

 

[T Hectares]

That's impossible with current available chemistry.

Yep, must be the Toil that makes the difference ?

 

[snarling bee]

Risk vs Reward.

Its even more difficult to get the balance in a year like this, on any crop. With OSR its now difficult any year.

 

[Hampton]

28 acre field where flea beetle followed by about 15 million pigeons destroyed a promising crop (neighbours failed to combine any wheat, and pigeons moved in after they had eaten all their wheat). Went in with mower and Wrapper and got 58 bales of ryegrass, volunteer barley and bits of osr.

 

[Laggard]

28 acre field where flea beetle followed by about 15 million pigeons destroyed a promising crop (neighbours failed to combine any wheat, and pigeons moved in after they had eaten all their wheat). Went in with mower and Wrapper and got 58 bales of ryegrass, volunteer barley and bits of osr.

Where in Australia are you?

 

[Hampton]

Where in Australia are you?

I know, it was definitely the right way up when I took it

 

[SilliamWhale]

post of the month award right here !

Thankyou. Do a win a mug?