Oilseed rape plans

[warksfarmer]

If we do stewardship then the osr will go to make way for more spring crops for overwintered stubbles. Shame as I quite like our reduced input approach on it as it’s very profitable.

 

[Andrew K]

Yes, but it’s manageable. Test farm saved seed for the princely sum of £49/sample at NIAB. Control charlock. Be wary of volunteers if you’ve grown HEAR in the last 10 years in that field.

Sown in wide rows with your Claydon you should be able to see any volunteers. Having grown Clearfield sown at 40 seeds/m2 and got nearly 60 plants then applied Cleravo and seen the devastation of those volunteers it’s a reminder of just how persistent brassica seed is.

Where can we obtain the regs for erucic levels please? Ours is bought in seed but dont think the merchant provided any data about that?

 

[Neddy flanders]

We’ve had issues 2 years on the trot, Clearfield for us from now on.
(same area).

wont cure the Erucic problem

 

[PSQ]

wont cure the Erucic problem

Are you trying to say that volunteer HEAR is Cleranda tolerant?

 

[Neddy flanders]

no, have heard that Clearfield OSR delivered to Erith found to be high in Erucic. (hearsay, not gospel)

 

[Brisel]

Where can we obtain the regs for erucic levels please? Ours is bought in seed but dont think the merchant provided any data about that?

As far as I’m aware, erucic acid isn’t part of the suite of tests for certified seed. Perhaps @Barry or @crazy_bull can clarify that? I did say test home saved in my post.

If non HEAR volunteers appear in a non Clearfield crop they shouldn’t cause a problem if they haven’t been allowed to set seed since their last “proper” harvest I have my doubts that hybrids would break down one generation on.

 

[average farmer]

Been drilling farm saved undressed seed here for about 10 years now and this is only the second year I’ve had to fetch any up due th csfb .
I have no problem in writing a bit off before I spend any money on it but getting it to this stage having sprayed it with C max and Kerb is too much of a risk for me.
I’ll have to see how this years crops fair before making any kind of decision but I can only see the problem being worse next year.

Can anyone see csfb being easier to control next year??

 

[T Hectares]

Planting the same area here as last year as last year was the first time I've had a significant problem.
My approach is keep it simple, hss, organic N source, companion crop ( might use some Clearfield here on some of them ) no pre em, drill in September...
After doing some benchmarking recently, it was interesting to see some crops with 2.5 times the VC spend of the lower ones for the same yield...

Pulses feature in the rotation here but their area will stay the same

 

[Barry]

As far as I’m aware, erucic acid isn’t part of the suite of tests for certified seed. Perhaps @Barry or @crazy_bull can clarify that? I did say test home saved in my post.

If non HEAR volunteers appear in a non Clearfield crop they shouldn’t cause a problem if they haven’t been allowed to set seed since their last “proper” harvest I have my doubts that hybrids would break down one generation on.

You are correct in that Erucic Acid isn't part of the suite of tests for certified seeds as such.

But I believe that when varieties are going for National Listing they have to be tested to identify them as standard 'Double Low' (Low in Erucic Acid and Low in Glucosinolates) or High Erucic (HEAR) or High Oleic (HOLL) etc.

In my experience practically all breeders will supply a merchant with the Erucic Acid level of the seed they have produced or the merchant themselves will carry out a test if they produced the seed crop. So results are available if required.

I would also say that so far in all the results I have seen I have not seen any above 0.2% and the majority less than 0.1%. And the characteristic is, I am told, very stable, in that it doesn't breakdown hardly at all over generations.

Which brings us back to the last point where I agree with Brisel that Hybrids of Double Low varieties would not breakdown and produce large numbers high Erucic 'off types' in one generation - or in fact in several generations.



Barry

 

[Feldspar]

Have the largest area of OSR we've ever had in the ground this year as a % of the total area. Think our early drilling strategy and establishment methods make the initial flea beetle risk just about manageable. We are spending about £50/ha on pigeon control and it has taken a lot of time this year and last year when the pigeons have been bad. This is the first year that we have had worryingly bad larvae numbers. Luckily this warm weather along with some early N that got in the ground about two weeks ago is helping it get away. Will wait until harvest when yields are known before deciding but expect to put about 20% of the area in next year. If next year is a disaster too then we will possibly just grow winter cereals (because we are going into a crop-fallow system).

 

[Clive]

By reducing the area we grow to a more sensible 10-15% several years ago OSR has become a much more consistent crop in our rotation

Yields have been good the last 5 years now and grown at low input cost its a very good gross margin crop

No plans to change here other than few a minor tweaks to establishment

 

[cousinjack]

3rd year of growing OSR ever !!

1st year was good,
2nd was a disaster

Hopefully have learned from mistakes last year .. as it's all looking top notch at the moment !!

I think we are both the most southerly and westerly grower in England !!

 

[cousinjack]

If we do stewardship then the osr will go to make way for more spring crops for overwintered stubbles. Shame as I quite like our reduced input approach on it as it’s very profitable.

So why drop it ? Is the stewardship payment + the profit on spring crops going to match Osr profit ??

 

[fudge]

Have the largest area of OSR we've ever had in the ground this year as a % of the total area. Think our early drilling strategy and establishment methods make the initial flea beetle risk just about manageable. We are spending about £50/ha on pigeon control and it has taken a lot of time this year and last year when the pigeons have been bad. This is the first year that we have had worryingly bad larvae numbers. Luckily this warm weather along with some early N that got in the ground about two weeks ago is helping it get away. Will wait until harvest when yields are known before deciding but expect to put about 20% of the area in next year. If next year is a disaster too then we will possibly just grow winter cereals (because we are going into a crop-fallow system).

Do you mind me asking what rotation are you moving towards? Specifically how much fallow and how will you manage that? Last time I looked at the stewardship rules it raise some questions about bg control in my mind. To the point when we use a fallow I wouldn’t manage it under stewardship. Currently our 2nd wheat seems profitable so not considering fallow atm, since our worst bg areas have improved markedly.

 

[Adeptandy]

Reading the post PSQ has a problem with erucic acid breaching the limits, not CSFB which as far as I am aware is not an issue (yet) north of Yorkshire. Hence Clearfield to control volunteer rape. That is my take of his post.

Sorry, just a bit scared by CSFB around here and is the first thought [emoji51]