Oilseed Rape News

With many new crops of oilseed rape already in the ground and the remainder of a predicted winter crop of just 300,000 ha following close behind, the current focus is on maximising establishment rates and safeguarding the ongoing viability of crops by reducing the competitive pressure of volunteer weeds. ADAMA’s Bill Lankford shares his thoughts on the latest herbicide advice and active ingredient recommendations.

Growers taking advantage of warm soils and good growing conditions to plant extra oilseed rape area, or with later emerging plants, should be aware of increasing cabbage stem flea beetle activity.

Getting OSR growing and away as soon as possible is vital. The emergence phase is the most vulnerable time for an OSR crop, as this is when it will face the most challenges from pests.

Bayer’s SpotCheck initiative, which helps oilseed rape growers identify light leaf spot (LLS) and other diseases in the crop, will re-open to receive leaf samples from October. The previous season saw epidemic-levels of disease so growers are advised to be alert to early signs of LLS and apply fungicides early.

Pioneer’s PT279CL winter oilseed rape has proven to be the highest yielding Clearfield variety in independent AHDB Recommended List trials for the third year running.

A crop of oilseed rape has produced a gross output of 7. 04t/ha despite battling against flea beetle damage as it established in the autumn.

Farmers who drilled oilseed rape in July and August without applying a pre-emergence herbicide will need a tailored approach to weed control this autumn.

Independent ADAS trials show that a balanced autumn Bionature liquid fertiliser regime doubles OSR root length.

When Cornish farmer Ashley Jones, of Smeaton Farm, harvested his 4.5ha field of oilseed rape hybrid LG Ambassador on the 22nd July, it yielded a very pleasing 4.07t/ha. A second crop of the conventional Aspire also performed well at 3.58t/ha.

The attributes of a new oilseed rape variety could make it the perfect fit for farmers who plan to switch to early drilling to improve autumn establishment.

Seed breeders DSV and Openfield are launching a joint initiative to provide oilseed rape growers with 20% more seed in 2020 without having to pay extra for it.

KWS are offering a 50:50 oilseed rape risk mitigation scheme in which growers will only pay half of their seed costs if the crop fails to establish in autumn 2020, the company has announced.