OSR this year ?

[DrWazzock]

The roots are knackered. Chewed off by cabbage root fly larvae or drowned. And it’s covered in rubbish as we couldn’t get any herbicide on. Looks like it will be spring barley. It’s just not worth spending big time on herbicide now. I’m glad in a way. Less stress all round with pigeons, hailstorms etc. Future will be stubble turnips for the sheep followed by a spring crop. Oddly the few stubble turnip volunteers amongst the OSR are massive and stand out above the miserable flat OSR. Had some turnips for dinner. Lovely.

 

[Heathland]

The roots are knackered. Chewed off by cabbage root fly larvae or drowned. And it’s covered in rubbish as we couldn’t get any herbicide on. Looks like it will be spring barley. It’s just not worth spending big time on herbicide now. I’m glad in a way. Less stress all round with pigeons, hailstorms etc. Future will be stubble turnips for the sheep followed by a spring crop. Oddly the few stubble turnip volunteers amongst the OSR are massive and stand out above the miserable flat OSR. Had some turnips for dinner. Lovely.

Same here walked all mine Friday with my agronomist,just aswell I'm a glass half full kind of guy,rewritten 80% off and the last 20% is on its last legs.
Looking like like no osr since we started growing the stuff back in the 80's,sad day.
Might aswell look at growing Soya beans or linseed again or even beans for bake beans........

 

[lloyd]

Same here walked all mine Friday with my agronomist,just aswell I'm a glass half full kind of guy,rewritten 80% off and the last 20% is on its last legs.
Looking like like no osr since we started growing the stuff back in the 80's,sad day.
Might aswell look at growing Soya beans or linseed again or even beans for bake beans........

Sheep it's the new break crop.

 

[Wombat]

Sheep it's the new break crop.

They will certainly break you

 

[DrWazzock]

Sheep are easiest best paying enterprise this year … and probably next the way things are going.

 

[DrWazzock]

Pulled few plants up and dissected leaf stalks/ petioles. I think too many larvae present. Crop seems to be “disappearing” even where it looked reasonable a month ago. I’ve got the sprays but unfortunately I think they will be stopping in the shed. Might keep the best and clean half hectare for home saved seed but otherwise I can’t see it yielding more than 10cwt per acre st harvest of weed infested rubbish …. so it will go in with home saved spring barley. Going forward break will have to be grass leys orceven an enviro option. Bullet bitten.

 

[ollie989898]

Sheep it's the new break crop.

That's the spirit.

 

[ollie989898]

They will certainly break you

Have you ever considered growing spring peas or maybe some linseed?

 

[Wombat]

Have you ever considered growing spring peas or maybe some linseed?

Nope and wouldn’t keep sheep if you paid me,
they have zero redeeming features

 

[ollie989898]

Nope and wouldn’t keep sheep if you paid me,
they have zero redeeming features

Come on, it's Christmas.

 

[Renaultman]

Nope and wouldn’t keep sheep if you paid me,
they have zero redeeming features

They taste nice.

 

[Wombat]

They taste nice.

No they don’t

 

[DrWazzock]

in the end I decided to leave it. Got the herbicides on yesterday in perfect spraying weather. I’ve no idea what it will do though there will be big bald patches as it isn’t going to rise from the dead.
There’s larvae in the leaf stems though not quite in the main stalk/stump yet. Hard to see plants amongst the cranesbill in places. In parts of the fiejd if you half close your eyes you can see a tinge of OSR green from the sprayer cab. Anyway who’s to say spring drilling will be any better. Just can’t be bothered to be honest. Fed up of it. It will be what it will be. Then at least back in with wheat.

 

[DrWazzock]

Sheep have been best payers this year. Not sure the shepherd would agree they are easy as he takes hay out to them in torrential rain this morning but at least the job will go despite the rain. All small bales handballed so no ruts or diesel burnt.

 

[Renaultman]

No they don’t

I'm quite partial to a lamb joint or lamb chops, even a Kebab after a few beers.

 

[DrWazzock]

I’m quite partial to a lamb curry. Or Chuck it on the BBQ. 100% grass fed here. The greenest lowest carbon crop we grow. Good mind to grass the lot down. Herbal leys and that kind of thing.

 

[DrWazzock]

I’ve often wondered how little machinery we could get away with. We can’t really avoid it for arable cropping and require it in quite a big way. That’s become mightily expensive. For sheep we mow turn and bale hay and that’s about it. We do drill turnips some years but with more grass we wouldn’t need turnips. No chems, no fertiliser, just a sip of diesel. And the way cropping seems to spiralling down the pan for a whole variety of reasons then I think sheep might be the answer.

 

[snarling bee]

Back on topic
My OSR today

On dissection I only found one of the little b'stards, and he was way up in a leaf and nowhere near the growing point.
There is however a huge amount of slug damage.
Drilled 20 July 2023.

 

[Hindsight]

Back on topic
My OSR today
View attachment 1157787


On dissection I only found one of the little b'stards, and he was way up in a leaf and nowhere near the growing point.
There is however a huge amount of slug damage.
Drilled 20 July 2023.




View attachment 1157788View attachment 1157789

Variety, seed rate, plant population, what autumn treatments. I ask as those plants look to be nice and compact - not elongated. Early drilled crops here (not quite so early but sown first two weeks August) are much taller / elongated with the growing point some 20 - 30 cm off the soil surface, which is worrying as last year the severe frosts killed many of the plants and severely thinned crops. Cheers.

 

[DrWazzock]

Variety, seed rate, plant population, what autumn treatments. I ask as those plants look to be nice and compact - not elongated. Early drilled crops here (not quite so early but sown first two weeks August) are much taller / elongated with the growing point some 20 - 30 cm off the soil surface, which is worrying as last year the severe frosts killed many of the plants and severely thinned crops. Cheers.

That’s one problem we don’t have here then. I’d say growing points are 20 to 30 mm off the surface.
In the end I went against my own gut feeling and followed the agros advice to apply the herbicides. Personally I think it will take a miracle to bring it to a crop but here’s hoping it will rise phoenix like from amongst the twisted wreckage of the cranesbill mat.