© Blackthron Arable.

Foliar nutrition could be key to growers establishing large, robust OSR plants to battle the winter and inevitable flea beetle attack, according to Chris Bond, product manager for crop nutrition and plant health at FMC.

“Larger OSR plants are much more likely to withstand the adult grazing and larval phase of flea beetle attack and will be more robust when it comes to freezing temperatures,” he says.

There has been a growing trend for boron deficiency across the country, according to FMC’s annual tissue testing, which has monitored OSR for the past three years.

“Over the past three years we’ve seen boron deficiency creeping up. In 2021 26% of the crops we tested were deficient, and this year it’s jumped to 42%,” says Mr Bond.

He explains that the micronutrient, boron, is particularly important after the four-leaf stage as it influences crop growth processes and builds frost resilience over winter by strengthening cell walls.

“Boron also has a part to play in flowering,” explains Mr Bond.

“Although flowering is quite a way off, the OSR starts to develop florets at the base of the plant as early as the autumn. So, making sure the plant has enough boron to influence this is important as it ultimately could impact yield.”

Mr Bond recommends an application of boron in a mix with other micronutrients to help aid Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) and give the crop a boost this autumn.

“Bo-La is a mixture of boron and molybdenum, which can address boron deficiencies but also help boost NUE as in order to take up nitrogen, molybdenum is needed,” he says.

“If you’re looking for a ‘multi-vitamin’ for your OSR crop, Stoker is a good choice. It contains boron and molybdenum but also manganese and magnesium, which support photosynthesis, and sulphur which is another important element for OSR as it has high demand for it.

“These products can be applied with other crop protection products, such as autumn fungicides or grass weed programs,” adds Mr Bond.

OSR crops come under heavy fire in the autumn and winter months, but by making a small investment in foliar nutrition, growers can give their crops a boost and help them emerge from the winter in a competitive state.

The post OSR: Don’t overlook boron this autumn, farmers warned appeared first on Farmers Guide.

“With this year’s later harvest comes the reminder that there is no need to panic and rush to get the rape crop in before mid-August. Many farms now have drills that cover large areas quickly, so it is possible to get drilling done in a shorter time frame than may have been the case several years ago,” says Liam Wilkinson, Limagrain’s oilseed rape product manager.

Liam Wilkinson, Limagrain’s oilseed rape product manager

“The last few years we have seen milder autumns so soils are warmer, and as long as there is sufficient moisture, we have seen crops do well on farm when drilled at this later period.”

“Most breeder and Recommended List trials are drilled later than they would ‘on-farm’ – which could be anytime from the August bank holiday as the seed becomes available. What we see the following year in trials plots, are often slightly later drilled crops.”

The benefits of later drilling

Mr Wilkinsons refers to work done by Dr Sacha White at ADAS where later drilled crops tend to be at less risk from CSFB larvae as there is less time for the adults to lay their eggs in the autumn crop.

“So if you can get the crop up and away from the adults as quickly as possible, the crop has a fighting chance against the pest.”

“Drilling later can also help with black-grass control as it gives you enough time to create a stale seed bed.”

“We find ourselves now in a position where there are fewer active ingredients to control the most difficult weeds in the whole rotation, particularly this year with the loss of Carbetamide.”

He adds: “The pressure on these herbicides increases further considering the growing number of early drilled crops (if soil moisture allows), which can mean potentially bigger weeds under the canopy, as they’ll have more time to grow before being sprayed.”

“By drilling later, the smaller crop can also make better use of autumn nitrogen, as opposed to a plant established in mid-August that is much larger and has to spread the nitrogen out.”

“For those in Clubroot infected areas, delayed drilling also reduces the risk of infection.”

Neil Watson, Hutchinsons southern technical manager agrees that by drilling oilseed rape later it is possible to avoid the peak migration of the adult CSFB, and therefore reduce subsequent impact from larvae.

“The French drill later than we do and still manage to get to eight leaves before the cessation of autumn growth,” he says.

He also recognises however that there is risk involved with drilling later and that yield potential may be compromised should the plant not reach the critical eight leaf stage – hence the value of picking a vigorous variety that will grow away quickly enough to be well established before the winter closes in – and this is critical.

“A backward crop coming into the spring has insufficient leaves and branching sites to fulfil yield potential. It also leaves little time for leaf area expansion before initiating floral development from the vegetative stage leaving a suboptimal canopy size to intercept light.”

He refers to data which suggests needing a 400-600 day degree (80dd per leaf) from emergence to get to this magical eight leaf stage. “A vigorous crop emerging end of August through to mid-September has a good chance of achieving this, assuming sowing date being two weeks earlier roughly. Beyond this drilling window, however you are compromising yield.”

Mr Wilkinson adds for success when drilling in this later slot, it is key to choose a variety with rapid autumn dynamic growth and the traits needed to establish and grow away quickly into the autumn – so a vigorous, trait-loaded hybrid fits the situation well.

So what is vigour and how can it be measured?

“Industry wide there is much debate about the value of vigour in oilseed rape varieties. But with no standardised measurement for vigour, it’s very subjective,” says Liam Wilkinson.

“Vigour is not a point in time measurement, it is a reflection of the plant’s dynamic growth through the autumn and reflects the speed of growth and ability of the plant to accumulate biomass.”

“Understanding how a particular variety develops and being able to create vigour values related to these, means that as breeders we are very well informed to provide advice on where a variety should be drilled,” he says.

“The very high yielding hybrid LG Aviron is one of one of the most vigorous varieties, it establishes speedily in the autumn and puts on biomass very quickly, even under testing or challenging situations, and copes well with being drilled later. Ambassador also performs well in this drilling slot, as do our national listed candidates Armada and Academic.”

However, he points out, if the decision to drill later or circumstances push into a later drilling than normal, it is key to commit to the crop fully to give it as much chance to succeed.

“There’s no point in putting the crop in the ground and then hanging back on nitrogen or weed control. The crop will need all the help it can get so it’s up and away as quickly as possible.”

Later drilling at Woodhouse Farm

Drilling oilseed rape in mid-September is nothing new for Northumberland grower, Richard Brewis of Woodhouse Farm, who has been drilling rape in September for the last twenty years and does not believe this impacts yields.

“Rape is an integral part of our rotation, and we would normally have around 60ha’s in the ground. We had always done what everyone else did and drilled oilseed rape after winter barley, so mid-August.”

“However, our heavy wet soils didn’t suit winter barley, so about twenty years ago, we made the decision to drop the barley and drill oilseed rape after wheat which would obviously mean drilling later, and we have never looked back,” he says.

“Now we aim to start drilling the rape by the 6/7^th September and just keep going until it is all in.”

He points out this is of course weather dependent, and he must work around that. “But even when a crop was drilled as late as the 20^th September it was still decent, although this is slightly later than we would choose to go, but it does show that yield is affected by other factors other than just drilling date.”

Growing hybrids is essential for our approach, he says. “We have grown Limagrain’s hybrid Aurelia for the last three years and have been very pleased with that, it copes well with this drilling slot, producing an even crop and very pleasing yields. Last year we also trialled some LG Wagner and plan to have a mix of each variety in the ground this year.

Rape at Woodhouse Farm is established using a Simba subsoiler followed with a power harrow drill and Cambridge roll, if weather conditions allow.

“We aim for a rosette pan structure of about 7-8 leaves rather than height, going into the winter, although we have had fewer leaves and still managed to keep the crop.”

Generally CSFB is not an issue, and Mr Brewis puts this down to the later drilling window. “Last year’s early harvest meant that we drilled our rape slightly earlier than normal, in the third week of August and lo and behold, we found patches of damage that we had not seen before.”

He believes there is a zone when adults CSFB inflight is reducing in his area – and this is the second and third weeks of September and by catching this, risk is much reduced for adult infection which then relates to very little spring larval damage.

“We do get some winter rape weevil, and treat this, so perhaps that also has an effect on the CSFB,” he suggests.

“Our main challenge is keeping pigeons off the crop, particularly as the crop is smaller, for which we use a range of methods from gas guns and visual deterrents to calcium chloride to make the crop more bitter. We must also take great care with slugs.”

However, some damage is inevitable, but Mr Brewis does not give up on poorer or damaged areas, and whilst they may never be as good as the rest of the crop, he says they will reach about 75% of the full potential.

He recognises there are pressure points in crop management when choosing to drill in September, and that it is not suitable for everyone. “As we don’t have issues with black-grass, we can start drilling wheat in the second week of September, so that can clash with drilling rape. We also have less time to get the wheat straw off.”

“Yes, there are risks to our approach – we only get one shot at getting the crop into the ground but so far there has been only one year back in 2012 when it rained continuously after harvest when we didn’t get the crop that we wanted.”

The post Can drilling OSR later be successful? appeared first on Farmers Guide.

“As on-farm yields start to come in from Murray growers, we are hearing reports from merchants and from growers that confirm its RL rating,” says Chris Guest, managing director, LS Plant Breeding Ltd (LSPB).

“Murray is one of four LSPB varieties with the RlmS gene for improved phoma resistance, a strong rating for Light Leaf spot and excellent verticillium resistance – giving a head start in the yield contest.”

Chris Piggott, regional seed manager with Frontier Agriculture Ltd, points to typical results from a grower in the south east: “This Kent grower’s Murray yielded 4.7t/ha compared to a farm average of 3.5t/ha, and that was across three fields totalling 20.20ha after allowing for headlands.

“At £400/t, including bonuses, that’s £480/ha increase in gross margin, hence across his total Murray crop of 20.20ha, he has close on £10,000 extra in the bank.”

Across in the RL East/West region, near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders, another grower noted that Murray proved to be the best of his three RL varieties on the farm, confirming his view that it looked good right up to harvest.

The weights back from the merchant made Murray’s average 3.85 t/ha, compared to the other winter oilseed rape varieties grown on the farm of 3.4 t/ha and 3.25 t/ha.

He commented that choosing Murray for the largest area of his oilseed rape proved to a good decision, and while it was clear that some crop had shed in all three varieties due to the high winds and seemingly incessant rain, Murray still delivered the most.

Chris Guest adds: “the improved genetics seen in our varieties, including Murray, contribute to keeping stems healthy and achieving strong overall plant health – and we now see this showing up in the excellent on-farm yields.

Find out more about LSPB’s Murray oilseed rape.

The post Murray brings ace results for oilseed rape growers appeared first on Farmers Guide.

“Phoma resistance has taken a major step forward with the launch of RlmS by LSPB in 2021 and four of our varieties with RlmS – Murray, Vegas, Flemming and Respect – are on the AHDB Recommended List (RL) and available to growers now,” Mr Guest explained.

“They provide an important complementary resistance to that of Rlm7 which has been the mainstay for some years. RlmS has a different genetic background – an adult stem-based resistance – unlike Rlm7 which acts on the cotyledons.”

He added RlmS resistance is also linked to strong overall plant health, and provides especially good stem resistance against late season diseases.

“We will bring further varieties with RlmS resistance, some already in trials and others in the pipeline, to complement Rlm7 and give longevity of phoma resistance to growers,” Mr Guest revealed.

Light leaf spot infection comes from trash in the autumn and, after a latent period of two to three months, starts its most damaging development in the spring, producing stem and pod infection, with most sources quoting a significant potential yield loss of around 1t/ha.

There are three major gene resistances associated with the disease, and the different mechanisms stop initial infections, stop conidial production and cycling and reduce overall growth of the fungus.

There is a strong correlation between yield and light leaf spot resistance – and as such this should be a key focus for growers thinking of oilseed rape for harvest 2024.

Varietal ratings on the RL have shown a steady upwards trend with LSPB’s Turing at the top of the RL for the UK (both East/West and North regions) scoring a ‘7’, closely followed by Vegas with an ‘8’ and Murray in the East/West region with a ‘7’.

Verticillium also has a significant impact on yield, with loss figures of 12-24% quoted in one AHDB study.

While there are currently no official ratings on the RL for verticillium, LSPB’s private trial in Cambridge gives a sobering measure of its effects, showing it is a disease that is probably having greater yield losses than is currently recognised, which has been seen consistently in both harvest 21 and harvest 22 trials.

The results highlight Turing, Murray and Fleming with excellent resistance to Verticillium, yielding between 6.1 and 6.7t/ha as opposed to other varieties in this trial with poorer resistance yielding more than 10% lower.

Mr Guest said stem health should be a key consideration when choosing varieties to plant in the upcoming season, adding that LSPB is well placed with their current genetics to offer growers a robust selection, with more varieties in the pipeline.

“Many growers focus on TuYV or pod shatter resistance, and whilst these are key considerations, diseases such as light leaf spot and verticillium can be more significant in yield loss – and therefore having a balanced portfolio of varieties in the rotation should be part of all growers plans,” he concluded.

The post Genetic improvements to OSR varieties offer greater resistance to major diseases appeared first on Farmers Guide.

The survey, which provides planted area estimates for the UK with a GB regional breakdown, estimates that a total of 1,746 Kha of wheat has been sown for harvest 2023. This represents a slight decrease year-on-year due to more barley and OSR being drilled.

The total UK barley area is estimated to increase by 5% on the year, with an uptick in both winter and spring area. There is also an increase in the UK OSR area, which is estimated to increase 11% year-on-year, as high prices in Spring 2022 offered growers the incentive to plant additional OSR.

Meanwhile, there seems to be a movement away from alternative break crops such as oats, as the UK oat area is set to decrease by 7% year-on-year.

Anthony Speight, AHDB senior analyst, said gross margins for 2023 are likely to be squeezed compared to 2022 due to the high input costs of the current season as a result of inflation and steep energy and fertiliser prices.

“Since winter crops have been sown, global grain markets have been on a downward drift as markets have adjusted, navigated and digested the war and geo-politics in the Black Sea,“ he pointed out.

“It’s a hard time for growers as cereal and oilseed prices are now lower than what they were when planting intentions were decided last year, and those peak marketing opportunities may have passed for 2023 harvest.

As harvest 2023 starts, growers will have a clearer idea on their breakeven point,“ he added. “What I will say is take marketing opportunities and ride the short-term volatile highs when opportunities arise to market your crops.”

Key findings of the survey include:

• In 2023 the total UK wheat area is estimated at 1,746 Kha, 3% down from 2022.
• The total UK barley area for harvest 2023 is estimated at 1,154Kha, up 5% on the year. The GB spring barley area is estimated at 702 Kha, up 7% year-on-year, while the GB winter barley area is estimated to be 2% higher at 434 Kha.
• The GB oat area is estimated at 161 Kha, this is 7% down year-on-year.
• The GB oilseed rape (OSR) area is estimated at 402 Kha, this is 11% higher than 2022 levels.
• For harvest 2023 KWS Extase is the most popular wheat variety with 17% of the total GB wheat area. For barley, Laureate is the most popular variety, accounting for 32% of the total GB barley area.

The full AHDB Planting and Variety Survey results are available to view and download on the AHDB Survey Results page.

The post Survey predicts reduced wheat area with barley and OSR on the rise appeared first on Farmers Guide.

The survey takes just five minutes to complete and growers are encouraged to provide as much information as possible for the wider industry to benefit from the results.

The Planting Survey aims to provide an estimate of the area of cereals and oilseed rape intended for harvest in 2023 in the UK while the Variety Survey aims to assess the proportion of varieties planted of wheat, barley, oat and oilseed rape crops across the UK.

The results of the survey will:

• Provide planted area estimates for the upcoming UK harvest
• Show regional breakdowns of major crops being grown, helping to understand any shortfalls which could impact price
• Shape the industry’s trading relationship with the continent, feeding into ex-farm prices
• Help growers to determine where to sell crops next season

“This survey can make a real difference to businesses across our sector and it is certainly something I have taken part in myself,” said Tom Clarke, AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds Sector Council chair.

He added the collected data will help UK farmers gain a better understanding of their produce when it comes to marketing decisions about what to grow in the future.

“By working together, as growers we can benefit from accurate and reliable data that is able to quantify our domestic production.

“The more evidence you’re able to give AHDB will mean you can gain from the facts and figures you need to make informed decisions about prices, yields and crops to grow next year.”

For more information and to fill out the Planting and Variety survey, visit: https://ahdb.org.uk/Planting-and-variety-survey.

The post Deadline extended for farmers to fill out planting and variety survey appeared first on Farmers Guide.

Stock photo for illustration purposes only.

Both WRH 637 (Cognac) and WRH 651 (Ludwig), currently in National List trials, feature LepR1 phoma resistance added to RLM7 to offer high levels of phoma protection for UK growers.

“This is combined with extremely high yields and an impressive agronomic package including turnip yellows virus (TuYV) protection, verticillium wilt tolerance and strong light leaf spot (LLS) resistance scores,” Ms Hawthorne explained.

“Uniquely, DSV now has varieties with all three phoma resistance mechanisms – RLM7, RMLS and now LepR1 – which can be rotated in the field to minimise major breakdowns of any one type of resistance.”

“The ability to do this means we have moved phoma resistance in oilseed rape several stages further on.”

DSV Dolphin is another new high-yielding OSR variety in the line up of the company’s existing high-performance portfolio including DSV Dart, Duke and Duplo. Ms Hawthorne said the variety performs particularly well in the east and west regions and has demonstrated a gross output of 105% of controls, a seed yield of 103% and very high oil content of 46.7% in the 2023/24 candidate list trials.

“It’s another variety with standout disease resistance offering protection against TuYV, plus RLM7+ and multi‐gene resistance to stem canker and shows rapid early development, featuring some of the largest seed pods bred by DSV.

“DSV Dolphin also has HarvestMax seed retention technology plus strong tolerance to verticillium wilt together with some of the best protection to sclerotinia in DSV’s portfolio.

“We’ve also got the UK’s most popular Clearfield oilseed rape variety DSV Matrix CL growing alongside our new Clearfield contenders DSV Beatrix CL and Miraculix CL,” she added.

Meanwhile, DSV Champion and Oxford were the main feature wheats on the stand.

“DSV Champion produced an incredible 17.95t/ha to take the Guinness world record for wheat yield last year whilst new Group 4 DSV Oxford is a great all-rounder with excellent scores for yellow rust resistance, high untreated yields, excellent standing power and OWBM resistance,” Ms Hawthorne remarked.

The post DSV presents new phoma-resistant OSR varieties at Cereals 2023 appeared first on Farmers Guide.

David says: “It’s still a lottery and, over the last 37 years, I’d argue that it has become even more difficult, with serious blackgrass resistance and the neonicotinoid ban to add to that list of challenges.

“However, there are new ways in which rape growers can stack the odds in their favour. The advent of priming technology into oilseed rape in the last two years has made a difference. It’s a proven technology that increases early plant vigour, offers more even crop germination and, given that there are no chemicals involved, it’s a sustainable and environmentally friendly process” he adds.

The positive benefits of Tennyson

Tennyson is the only primed Winter OSR variety in the UK.

Working with farming business A & E Beckett, based near Birmingham, David recommended a trial on 21ha of primed Tennyson, the only primed hybrid OSR variety available in the UK. Direct drilled on August 12th at a rate of 50 seeds per M2, along with two unprimed varieties as a comparison, David confirms that the early results have been extremely promising.

“We drilled the primed Tennyson in fields that had been left fallow for one year, but despite this unusual scenario, combined with only 30mm of rain in the first 3 weeks post-drilling, the crop came through with great uniformity and continued to grow well despite the combined attention of CSFB and significant pigeon populations. By the 3-4 leaf stage the Tennyson still looked healthy with only small shot-holing on the leaves from the CSFB grazing.

“Unfortunately, the two unprimed varieties suffered heavy attacks from flea beetle on August 24thand 25th and we were forced to spray some growth stimulants to help them. However, the primed Tennyson crop didn’t require a spray due to its advanced early growth stage.

Beyond the priming technology, Tennyson is an impressively resilient variety with a strong disease profile. Its verticillium resistance trait could also be a major positive on farms with tight rotations and I will be following its progress closely” he concludes.

Brought to you by Elsoms’ breeding programme, Tennyson is recommended for the East/West region by the AHDB.

Based on the Lambourn Downs, between Wantage and Lambourn in Oxfordshire, farm manager Piers Cowling of Sparsholt Manor Farms drilled 62ha of primed Tennyson on Sept 3rd having achieved 3.45t/ha on a 50ha crop of unprimed Tennyson earlier this year.

Piers says: “With no rain in August we were forced to drill later this time, although there was a lot of confidence behind Tennyson, given we knew it had displayed significant early vigour last year.

“Of the rape varieties we selected, Tennyson was the last to be drilled but – despite the staggered start, all 3 varieties emerged together during the week commencing September 11th, with the Tennyson crop the most uniform of the 3. With the benefit of some much-needed October rain all our rape is progressing well, successfully overcoming some CSFB grazing at the expanded cotyledon stage” concludes Piers.

Farmer Peter Legge of Legge Farms Limited, based on the Norfolk-Cambridgeshire border, has been growing OSR for the last 15 years across soil types ranging from heavy clay to sharp sands and organic black fen. Working with Simon Hobbs of Agrii, Peter drilled 50ha of primed Tennyson on August 25th-26th, later than planned due to the prolonged dry spell.

With quantitative Phoma resistance, TuYV and a high Verticillium tolerance, Tennyson is a flexible variety suited to a range of drilling situations.

Peter says: “The first month is always critical, and you have to give the young rape crop every advantage available during the first 4-5 weeks of its existence to try to ensure good germination and rapid growth away from pest activity. We’ve been working closely with Simon Hobbs for over 15 years now and, having seen Agrii’s trial results on primed OSR seed, it was a no-brainer to trial a primed variety.

“The early visual signs were very positive with the crop showing very even emergence 6 days post-drilling. There was some CSFB feeding activity during the second week of September, but we were quick to react, adding an insecticide to our post-emergence herbicide tank mix that kept the crop on course, with only low-level shot-holing noted in most of the young OSR plants.

“I think we were more confident this time with primed Tennyson, evidenced by our decisiveness with the herbicide spray. In other years, following a flea beetle attack, we’d have occasionally held back on applying further inputs until we’d properly accessed levels of crop damage. As of late October, 9 weeks post drilling, the Tennyson crop was at the 10-12 leaf stage with a healthy, dense canopy that tends to stop pigeons from settling in the crop as an additional positive” he concludes.

Discover ten reasons to grown Tennyson and view the detailed spec sheet online.

The post Growers and agronomists report positive benefits of drilling primed Tennyson appeared first on Farmers Guide.

Seed declarations must be made on all eligible varieties regardless of yield and whether the variety makes up part of a blend or cover crop.

BSPB CEO Sam Brooke said the society has seen an uplift in farm saved seed declarations being submitted online since the launch of the new returns platform in 2021.

“However, there is still some confusion around what to declare, so we wanted to clarify the requirements, especially the need for all protected varieties to be declared regardless of whether they are part of a blend, cover crop or failed crop,” she added.

It is a legal requirement for all farmers to produce and sow farm saved seed on the same holding. This prohibits the sharing or sale of seed between growers.

The BSPB is keen to remind farmers that yield, and whether the variety makes up part of a blend or cover crop, does not affect the need to make a declaration.

“Farm saved seed declarations apply to cover crops, volunteer crops, companion crops, whole crops and bi-crops, regardless of yield. In the case of a failed crop, such as OSR, the seed declaration is still required because payment is due on sowing not harvest. It is illegal to sell, buy, barter or share farm saved seed,” Ms Brooke stressed.

Moreover, any protected variety should be declared when the seed from the crop is sown. Where the protected variety is sown as part of a blend or cover crop, growers must also declare the ratio of seed in the blend. This percentage can then be used along with the seeding rate to calculate the payment needed for using the blend.

Growers are also advised against saving seed from hybrid varieties as this can result in variable offspring, reduced yields, loss of agronomic characters and goes against current legislation.

“Saving seed from hybrid varieties is not advised and must be avoided to protect future yields. If there is any uncertainty, the BSPB team is on hand to help and offer guidance on how to calculate and declare all varieties of farm saved seed,” Ms Brooke concluded.

For more information, help and advice, contact the BSPB farm saved seed team on 01353 653209 or email seed@bspb.co.uk.

Declarations can be made online at https://returns.bspb.co.uk.

The post Clarifications issued for farm saved seed declarations appeared first on Farmers Guide.

Alice Cannon, Hutchinsons agronomist and regional technical support manager.

Alice Cannon, Hutchinsons regional technical support manager based in Lincolnshire, is seeing a picture of thirds: ”One third of the crop looks fantastic, it has had a good start, got its roots down early and wasn’t sown at too high a seed rate, so has branched out and has strong stems,” she said, adding these crops show a growth of about a foot in just a week.

The second scenario, which she believes describes the majority of OSR crops, is where the crop was drilled relatively late and has just started to show signs of elongating and branching out.

“Finally, there are those crops that looked well coming out of January but have since been devastated by CSFB or Rape winter stem weevil. Unfortunately for crops in this situation, it is important to question the viability of the crop going forward with regards to additional input costs particularly considering where market prices currently sit,” she advised.

According to AHDB research, there are five main factors that contribute to high yields in OSR, four of which are managed through crop manipulation and should therefore be taken into account when making management decisions.

The best tools for manipulating crop size, Ms Cannon said, are nitrogen and plant growth regulators (PGRs).

“Firstly, aim for a GAI [Green Area Index] of 3.5 at flowering for the right number of pods – this is the primary function of the PGR and a 5cm reduction in height can be easily achieved. PGR applications also help to promote more even and well-structured branching,” she added.

“It is important to keep the crop standing,” Ms Cannon continued, “lowering crop height will help to reduce lodging. 31% of OSR lodges every year and within that figure 85% of fields have at least 10% lodged crop. For every 10% of lodged area, you can expect a yield reduction of 0.07-0.16t/ha.”

“PGR’s also help to synchronise flowering, reducing light reflectance subsequently improving light capture by crop canopy which allows even development of pods and seed. Plants should also be kept disease free.”

Management tips for the 2023 season

Since crops that are slightly backward with a GAI less than 0.8 can be manipulated through nutrition (particularly N,P, Zn), Ms Cannon said PGRs are unjustified in these cases.

“However, crops with a GAI of 0.8 or above are considered to be forward and these crops should be treated with 0.75l/ha -1l/ha metconazole + mepiquat chloride or 0.5l/ha trinexapac-ethyl,” she recommended.

For OSR crops with a GAI of 2 or greater, Ms Cannon suggested using more robust rates of specific PGR products and mixing with additional metconazole where increased PGR activity is required.

“Crops in this situation will need 1-1.2l/ha metconazole + Mepiquat chloride, adding in metconazole (0.08l/ha Metfin 90 per crop leaf),” she explained.

“An alternative is 0.5l/ha trinexapac-ethyl plus tebuconazole and/or metconazole or 0.7l/ha trinexapac-ethyl on its own (non-PGR fungicide added for disease).”

Finally, Ms Cannon noted that while triazoles have some growth manipulation effect, it is important to keep rates high and apply at least 1 litre of tebuconazole per hectare.

She explained that, although metconazole and tebuconazole have the strongest manipulation effect, this manipulation is less persistent and can be less consistent than specific PGR options.

The post Plan your OSR management carefully this season appeared first on Farmers Guide.