Will Volunteer Rape produce a harvestable crop?

[DrWazzock]

It's this old chestnut again. Walking across my rape stubbles there is a fine stand of volunteer plants now well out of danger from the flea beetle except of course for larval damage later. There are very few weeds as it had preharvest glyphosate and hasn't been disturbed. The plant population is a bit high but you can see the weaker smaller ones dying out so its to some degree self thinning.

Wondering about leaving it at least till spring to see what it's like then I can always go spring barley if it's rubbish.

Other than that it's destined for winter wheat. But what a shame to spray it off or plough it down.

What can go wrong? Phoma, light leaf spot, alternaria? Looks pretty healthy at the moment. Maybe high euricic acid from cross pollination?

 

[Still Farming]

Lots have done to great results.

 

[Brisel]

Lots have done to poor results too. Monoculture isn't a great thing especially if you are at risk of clubroot. IMO most issues result from too thick a crop - thinning it with a tine or well spaced glyphosate nozzles would help mitigate the inter plant competition and resultant microclimate that favours the further build up of disease levels. If you're looking at hybrids, there's the risk of getting something that doesn't resemble the parent material.

 

[DrWazzock]

it is much too thick in some areas.

As an aside, most things in nature are a monoculture. Brassica seed falls around the parent plant and off it goes again. Worked well for millions of years. Maybe disease burns out or resistance builds, or root exudates create more beneficial environment for the species over time.

Rotations create most of the expense in agriculture. And we have to be seen to be doing something maybe?

 

[Still Farming]

it is much too thick in some areas.

As an aside, most things in nature are a monoculture. Brassica seed falls around the parent plant and off it goes again. Worked well for millions of years. Maybe disease burns out or resistance builds, or root exudates create more beneficial environment for the species over time.

Rotations create most of the expense in agriculture. And we have to be seen to be doing something maybe?

Graze off a bit, tine weed rows etc ?

 

[DrWazzock]

Could maybe run the ewes thinly on it till christmas.

 

[Still Farming]

To establish a good crop from scratch you be into November before like that maybe?

 

[Somerset Farmer]

I have been told that oil seed rape is no good for sheep to graze as it has something in it that is no good for sheep. I have the same issue that I have a good crop of volenteers and want to do something usefull with it. any advice please
Could maybe run the ewes thinly on it till christmas.

 

[RushesToo]

it is much too thick in some areas.

As an aside, most things in nature are a monoculture. Brassica seed falls around the parent plant and off it goes again. Worked well for millions of years. Maybe disease burns out or resistance builds, or root exudates create more beneficial environment for the species over time.

Rotations create most of the expense in agriculture. And we have to be seen to be doing something maybe?

@DrWazzock Sort of, but not really. Naturally seeds fall onto what's around and it isn't monoculture, they fight their way through growth already there. Disease and pests find it hard because it's not a monoculture so it just gets along.
I would stick to your original plan, and try and improve that rather than change tack because it looks good. You planned what you did for a reason

The good question to ask yourself is "could the plan have been better?"

If you had considered grazing off and going into spring wheat or letting it grow on then great just do it. If you hadn't, myself I am risk averse and would go an affordable amount as experiment and the rest as the plan.

 

[Badshot]

If you want to ensure you get verticillium wilt in the ground then crack on.
It's a heart breaker, crop looks great all year, get in with the combine and it yields like half a crop at best.
And it never goes away once there.
Some varieties are more tolerant than others.
It's getting more common round here , many grew w,w,osr, then went w,osr,w,osr, massive mistake.

 

[chaffcutter]

Just look on it as a free cover crop, it’s been feeding your soil bacteria and fungi so far, kill it off at drilling and it will feed your worms and the other above ground insects as it dies down.

 

[robbie]

I thought about doing this last year, the land was virgin rape land so from a disease point of view a "2nd osr" wouldn't cause too much problem but the small area of 1ha I left until I ploughed the field in mid October was absolutely riddled with cabbage root fly larvae.

It did make a great green manure crop to plough in though.

If I had of left it to become another crop I was thinking about running through it with our FMA cultivator type beet hoe to thin it down and make 6in bands every 20 inches which, I think, would have worked well if done when the plants where small enough to not block the hoe.

 

[DrWazzock]

Right. I think we will put it in with wheat as per the original plan.
I hadn't considered verticillium wilt and I know it's not good practice generally.

 

[Flat 10]

Isn’t there a field of continuous Osr in Scotland? 25 years or so?

 

[teslacoils]

Volunteer osr =noooo.
2nd osr different kettle of fish.

#clearfield

(I've done 2nd osr in the days before ckearfield and was fine. 6wk stale seedbed plus lime)

 

[Gong Farmer]

Just out of interest, what are the FSS payment issues with this?

 

[DrWazzock]

I'd imagine you would declare and pay on the area of volunteers you are taking forward as a crop.

 

[Barry]

The issue for me is getting the right plant numbers, so you definitely have to thin out the thick patches. Remember rape has an excellent ability to compensate from low plant numbers but too thick and you get spindly plants that really do not yield that well normally.

On the FSS side, I would expect that you have to make a declaration exactly the same way as you would if you had taken it out of the barn and sown it.

 

[DrWazzock]

Well, like wild oats, it is romping away. Hopefully serving as a "flea beetle trap" then most likely ploughed down and in with wheat.