How are your crops looking ?

[dontknowanything]

Just been talking about this today.
We can't plant rape until the very end of august and ideally want to plant first 2 weeks of september, due to not growing winter barley.
We can establish it very cheaply and this has been the first failure in 5 years for us - quite a dramatic one however.
My thinking is to plant undressed seed from the bin, if it comes ok then start spending with cyper and butisan, if it does not come then all we have lost is a few kgs of osr and a pass with the drill
(won't pay royalties if it fails).
The experts would have us believe we should plant hybrids later but with the benefit of hindsight I am risking too much.
The ban on a lot of insecticide dressings will mean a flea beetle spray will be more common.

How about broadcasting OSR into a standing wheat crop in mid august? Anyone tried it? Even better use a pneumatic boom spreader

 

[Elmsted]

How about broadcasting OSR into a standing wheat crop in mid august? Anyone tried it? Even better use a pneumatic boom spreader

Talk of circles and wheels going round. Last time I used a khun aero was for exactly this and applying avadex granules. Now what we are going back there.

 

[T C]

How about broadcasting OSR into a standing wheat crop in mid august? Anyone tried it? Even better use a pneumatic boom spreader

Done it in the past but not being able to predict sowing to harvest timing can mean the seedlings get damaged. Waiting for a few days and drilling it is more tempting. Also there is a problem with slug pellets before cutting wheat.

 

[T C]

I keep being told home saved hybrids won't grow ? Yet abroad many seem to save them ? Are we just being discouraged so we buy expensive new seed ?

There used to be a few who saved pronto round here, worked well for 2 generations. At the time there were no royalties on hybrids as it was assumed no one would try!