Robigus
Member
We have grown mustard as a seed crop several times; plenty of problems but not slugs.Just a query any body found slug problems after growing Mustard maybe as cover crop. Clive do let us know. Or any one else.
We have grown mustard as a seed crop several times; plenty of problems but not slugs.Just a query any body found slug problems after growing Mustard maybe as cover crop. Clive do let us know. Or any one else.
No osr planted this year and I have to say I dont miss it. Not out every day checking for slugs and pigeons, then getting frozen trying to kill the things when they do attack. Input spend is none existent because I have only been in the wheat and barley fields once with a sprayer and that was to put liquid fert on. No expensive herbicides used on any osr and wont be in the lap of the gods come June if the weather is bad and it goes flat. Never say never but at the moment I think I'm out of osr for the foreseeable future.
with hindsight a good move this yera for you Lee. Knowing your farm I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have a crop right now so you saved yourself a few ££ there for sure this time !
However I wouldnt go as far as to right the crop off, you have had some great and I'm sure profitable crops of OSR
I think the key is just widening the rotation with it and not growing a large area that becomes hard to keep vermin free !
I think if we grew it again I might revert back to an old variety and treat it like Jim B suggested in the 80's so a very basic approach and lower my yield expectation at the same time.
I think herbicide / fungicide stratagies best put in another thread.
I am growing winter rape after mustard this autumn, so will let you know what the slugs are like.
Dont find take-all a problem on my soils. Moving to wheat at worst one year in four is keeping yields happy.
The big perk of OSR has to be being able to use Kerb. Without that I dont think I would grow it. Even at these high prices, if / when we loose a lot of this herbicide chemistry this farm will have to have either a grass crop or fallow in the rotation.
Mixed farms are,of course,the answer to an awful lot of problems.But hard to re-introduce for most.How about 3 yrs grass,WB (stubble turnips) spring oats WW back to grass ?
WW sales after grass would far exceed WB sales.But if you can use the barley and straw at home,and get good value out of a stubble turnip crop,it may be attractive.I would have thought that a 1st WW after the grass would gain a lot more benefit from the long break than WB? Maybe I am wrong? What sort of yield could be expected from the WB?
So what are people alternatives to OSR then?
As I said, my planned rotation is wb / wb / osr / wb / wb / spr beans
On fairly heavy clay land.
What would be your suggestions instead of osr for me?
Can't really say for heavy land but on light ground we have grown good crops of peas, winter and spring beans, oats and linseed
All can be a bit hit and miss depending upon season but so is WOSR !
All cost a lot less to grow so risk is much lower and all leave ground in better shape than WOSR
Have never grown osr directly after mustard cover but land we have had mustard twice in the last 5 years had no slug pellets and has a decent crop of ww on it right now ??
We have grown mustard as a seed crop several times; plenty of problems but not slugs.
What rotation are you running?
So what are people alternatives to OSR then?
As I said, my planned rotation is wb / wb / osr / wb / wb / spr beans
On fairly heavy clay land.
What would be your suggestions instead of osr for me?
Why did you drop WW and go for WB?