Osr no podstick and no roundup

moretimeforgolf

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North Kent, UK
Moving from swathing to direct cutting.

Reluctant to roundup it for a few reasons. Am I an absolute fool not to podstick it and leave it on the stem?

Any natural ripeners on here?
Not a problem. That’s our usual way to harvest rape. Having said that, this year ours is weedy in places and got some premature ripening in areas …. sprayed a week ago with glyphosate and pod stick!
Usually easy to harvest without spraying. Last couple of years it’s been an advantage because the moisture kept above 6% while others who had sprayed were having to harvest at night.
 

B'o'B

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Rutland
We grew it for seed so couldn’t use glyphosate. Never desiccated and never used pod stick and never had an issue. Obviously in a different part of the world, but it worked for us.
 

Gadget

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Sutton Coldfield
How much longer does it take to ripen, does it clash with wheat harvest

When we used to do leave it to naturally ripen, it was often touch and go if the OSR or Wheat would be ready first. We actually always cut the OSR first however.

Let it go naturally it is a very hardy crop you will see a white pods but you would of knocked far mor out with sprayer. Always find oil content higher when naturally ripened.

Even when sprayed, if you leave the OSR to be properly ready, you can get higher % oils.
 

Salopian_Will

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Shropshire
Remember coming from my own sprayed off doing 5-6kmh with 30ft cut to a neighbour I cut for to 1.5kmh and then he announced he decided not to spray the fudgeer!
brashy land you’ll get away with it I find, strong land put the sprayer in!

I would echo this. When we leave some for seed etc it is a b@astard to cut and even then the green stalks stayed alive for weeks after, with some secondary regrowth.
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
As said, have left it unsprayed. The seed seems to get dry enough before the plant dries out. The green plant slows your combine down and greatly increases the risk of a blockage in my experience. With a slow drum and often the belt a bit slack as the drive pulley is fully released open, you can have a blockage and a cloud of belt smoke before you know it on my old machine. Leave it longer to dry the whole plant out and you risk pod shatter but it’s surprising how long modern varieties do hold on. You need a bed extension for cutting direct, sprayed or unsprayed I think.
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
Have cut rape after wheat more than once, no obvious ill effects. Hail wouldn't do it much good, but an alarming amount of rain doesn't seem to hurt crop much. I think rape is more resilient left alone unsprayed, certainly doesn't shatter near as bad as when Regloned. Combines really nicely when straw naturally dead to the floor.
 

cquick

Member
BASE UK Member
My OSR this year hasn't had a sprayer through it since Kerb in January.
As long as the crop is even, I'm happy to let it go off naturally every year. Last year we were harvesting on the 9th of July, and this year we'll be starting this week. About the same timing as everyone else round here.
The stems are a bit green but we don't seem to have any issues, as I try and cut it as high as possible.
The oils seem to be routinely higher than those who dessicated, too.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
If you have plenty of harvesting capacity and an even crop, why not? I don’t because I need the land cleared, lots to do and late weed control is a bonus.
 

nxy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Just been out trying to cut mine. You could say we have had a lot of rain the last few weeks. Trouble is its now so fit the rain has been knocking it out.

IMG_0529.jpgIMG_0531.jpgIMG_0532.jpgIMG_0533.jpg
 

nxy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Sorry forgot to say it was dessicated almost a month ago and a lot has now fallen out. We normally cut direct but I thought it was too patchy and had too much rubbish like redshank in it to cut direct.
 

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