OSR Next year

[Banana Bar]

Seriously considering dropping OSR next year. Flea beetle has massively hurt the crops ability to grow in the spring, pigeons are relentless this year, I’ve had someone full time chasing pigeons for a month and the price is falling through the floor. I can never remember not having the crop so we must of grown at least for 40 yrs. Wheat is the only crop worth growing in my opinion.

BB

 

[ajd132]

Seriously considering dropping OSR next year. Flea beetle has massively hurt the crops ability to grow in the spring, pigeons are relentless this year, I’ve had someone full time chasing pigeons for a month and the price is falling through the floor. I can never remember not having the crop so we must of grown at least for 40 yrs. Wheat is the only crop worth growing in my opinion.

BB

As we’ve all found out if you just grow wheat it gets very very expensive very fast!

 

[Badshot]

As we’ve all found out if you just grow wheat it gets very very expensive very fast!

Maybe the wheat/fallow(cover crop) option will appeal more.

 

[ajd132]

Maybe the wheat/fallow(cover crop) option will appeal more.

Yes it could aslong as fixed costs reduced accordingly. Although spring barley has been very profitable in recent years.

 

[D14]

Maybe the wheat/fallow(cover crop) option will appeal more.

Thats where we are heading I think. Maybe a combination of winter wheat and spring wheat drilled in late autumn to tick the boxes but presently the financial return from any other combinable crop is borderline in my opinion.

 

[Clive]

To fix a rotation first you MUST fix your fixed cost structure

Only then can you begin farming for profit rather than gross output and suddenly its amazing how much choice of crops you can viably grow there is

 

[ajd132]

To fix a rotation first you MUST fix your fixed cost structure

Only then can you begin farming for profit rather than gross output and suddenly its amazing how much choice of crops you can viably grow there is

You are right, if I can get my costs down to where I am aiming, which I think I can fairly easily. Everything becomes profitable.

 

[teslacoils]

I think we will go back in to osr next year simply as the area of fallow allows it. Glad I kept a ton on conventional seed back.

 

[yellow belly]

If you have lots of fleabeetle in your parish growing rape profitably is impossible
it may look alright now but if all the side branches are chewed from the inside there are not enough flowers to out pace the pollen beetles
not growing rape till the area drops to nothing in the area the consider will consider it

farm with notill so operating costs well under control

 

[MrNoo]

No OSR here for the last 2 years, not by choice but FB, re-drilled and they had that. Not bothering this year, very few good looking crops around here, all seem to have been murdered by FB.

 

[Neddy flanders]

Seriously considering dropping OSR next year. Flea beetle has massively hurt the crops ability to grow in the spring, pigeons are relentless this year, I’ve had someone full time chasing pigeons for a month and the price is falling through the floor. I can never remember not having the crop so we must of grown at least for 40 yrs. Wheat is the only crop worth growing in my opinion.

BB

Has it taken a year from writing this post for it to appear on TFF ? hasn't been worthwhile planting this year and wont be next.

 

[MikeNeaverson]

Having written off 85% of the OSR I look after this year, and having wished I'd written off half of the remaining, could we decide as an industry or region just to grow it every other year to break the pest cycle? Would require something farmers aren't very good at - co-operation.

 

[colhonk]

I think Clive generally talks sense BUT,,obviously you seem to have no grasp of what type of soil (well,it vaugly resembles it)many of us other farmers are farming with, with very different weather and where in the country we are situated. Up here on yellow brick clay on top of blue clay, although I have redrained the farm,it is still very cold and wet stuff and generaly is not anywhere near dry enough to travel on until begining of May, far to late for spring crops up here (many newcomers to the area have tried, only ever once). too far up the country for all of the speciality crops, Barley not greatly wanted round here,OSR cleaned off by flea beetle. Did try direct drilling before you were born, the slot just filled with water and stayed like that all winter, everything rotted. Have mintilled (power cultivator / drill combination direct into the stubble and chopped the straw every year. and only had to plough a couple of fields this centuary, now badly troubled by ryegrass. Would like to know what crops you recomend that I could reliably grow for profit?... Maybe should not try anymore and just plant trees in the Elms scheme which would actually help the globe to warm if there was such a thing as man made warming.

 

[ajd132]

I think Clive generally talks sense BUT,,obviously you seem to have no grasp of what type of soil (well,it vaugly resembles it)many of us other farmers are farming with, with very different weather and where in the country we are situated. Up here on yellow brick clay on top of blue clay, although I have redrained the farm,it is still very cold and wet stuff and generaly is not anywhere near dry enough to travel on until begining of May, far to late for spring crops up here (many newcomers to the area have tried, only ever once). too far up the country for all of the speciality crops, Barley not greatly wanted round here,OSR cleaned off by flea beetle. Did try direct drilling before you were born, the slot just filled with water and stayed like that all winter, everything rotted. Have mintilled (power cultivator / drill combination direct into the stubble and chopped the straw every year. and only had to plough a couple of fields this centuary, now badly troubled by ryegrass. Would like to know what crops you recomend that I could reliably grow for profit?... Maybe should not try anymore and just plant trees in the Elms scheme which would actually help the globe to warm if there was such a thing as man made warming.

Unfortunately you a probably correct with thinking it is better suited to ELMS type scheme, some land just isn’t meant to grow crops.

 

[snarling bee]

I'm aiming to 'drill' osr into cover crop first few days of august and see if we can fool the csfb.
Having said that a WW/WW/'cover crop fallow' rotation makes a lot of sense. I've not had a decent OSR crop since 2015.