A few weeks ago, a number of industry players held an information meeting on oilseed rape ahead of the 2014 planting season which will kick off in a few weeks. It was organised in response to the decreased area sown to the crop for 2014 and the meeting focused on the basic and simple husbandry actions that will help to ensure good crop performance.

At the moment, there is a sentiment of reduced confidence in oilseed rape. This is partly a performance issue and partly a price issue. There is little one can do about the latter, except to avail of forward selling opportunities when the price is right, or to consider a small crushing facility for the human food market to add value. But with regard to crop performance, there are a number of key issues that can be addressed and these influence the success or otherwise of the crop.

Under the new CAP greening rules, crop diversification (the three-crop rule) will be a must for most growers. Rape is one crop option and, combined with winter barley and other crops, provides the basis for a solid rotation with the option to reduce establishment costs by min-till or strip tilling for a following cereal crop.

Over 60 potential growers attended the meeting held on Larry O’Reilly’s farm in Ballyragget, Co Kilkenny. There were many important points outlined by various speakers and the following report summarises the key points for a successful crop.

Michael Hennessey of Teagasc indicated that combinable break crops will remain important, as growers reassess their farming systems to comply with new cropping rules.

Grower experience

From a grower’s perspective, Larry O’Reilly stated that he is growing winter oilseed rape now, having grown the spring crop for the past three years as part of a rotation that was introduced a few years ago to help combat sterile brome in his min-till farming system.

While the spring rape had been successful for three years, Larry switched to winter rape because the earlier harvest date left more flexibility for autumn cultivation before the following crop. The winter rape also provides the option to use graminicides, which enabled him to tackle problematic grass weeds like sterile brome using different chemistry.

One of the challenges of a rotational break crop is to assess its net benefit. Larry stated that he has always found an increase in yield in the succeeding cereal crops following rape. He does not have the experience yet to say whether this will be greater after winter versus spring rape, but the break crop is having a positive impact on the average five-year gross margin.

Early sowing

Drilling early is seen as the absolute key to success. While it is fine for a grower to say he or she is happy to drill up to a certain date, that is Plan B and not Plan A. This was the recurring theme throughout the evening. Later sowings lead to a multitude of problems, both in terms of successful crop establishment and pest control.

Crops sown into warmer seedbeds establish quicker and give full ground cover going into the winter. This alone is a deterrent to pigeons as they do not want to land in a taller crop. In turn, this helps your crop to grow away earlier in springtime, and a full canopy requires less spring nitrogen.

By their nature, earlier sown crops are bigger. They require both autumn and spring plant growth regulation as a side effect of fungicide use for the control of phoma or light leafspot. Gerry Kelly of BASF suggested the use of Caramba for this effect but others felt that this is best used when the crops are full in springtime, as it also helps encourage plants to branch as well as reduce elongation.

To facilitate early drilling, the preceding crop is important. In the past, a lot of rape was drilled following winter wheat and this inevitably leads to later sowing dates. The ideal preceding crop is winter barley and having more of this in the ground provides additional opportunity for early drilling of rape this year.

Although planning is important, it does not always happen. Rape is often seen as an afterthought waiting for an opportunity. Forward planning is essential for successful rape production. If rape is to be planted, fields following winter barley should be targeted for rapid straw removal and immediate stubble cultivation to get the field ready for sowing in the second half of August. Consider a contractor if timely planting is an obstacle.

Gerry also highlighted the importance of early weed control using metazachlor products, such as Butisan S or Katamaran. He reiterated the importance of using these early, as the number of herbicides for winter oilseed rape is limited and these are primarily residual products. Both Gerry and Larry mentioned the importance of a bit of seedbed nitrogen. Larry had used DAP at Ballyragget.

Many of the new varieties coming forward are hybrids from almost all breeders. Hybrids offer good autumn and spring vigour and many claim to have good resistance to pod shatter as a result of using radish in the hybridisation development process.

Pod shatter has long been a worry for growers due to the risk of high harvest losses. Yvonne Farrell from Monsanto touched on some of the key physiological characteristics in oilseed rape varieties.

The varieties recommended by the Department of Agriculture for planting in 2014 are covered on the previous page, but there are a number of other well proven non-recommended varieties currently in the market.

Establishment problems

The temporary ban on the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments represents a loss to winter rape production and problems could result as a consequence. Flea beetle and aphids are still very active when the crop is sown in August.

The loss of these insecticidal seed dressings increases the requirement for regular crop inspection during emergence until the crop is established or treated with an appropriate pyrethroid if damage is seen.

Varieties with rapid establishment characteristics will have an edge on flea beetle, as the quicker a plant can get to the true leaf stage, the faster it becomes immune to the risk of severe damage.

Sowing system

There are a number of planting alternatives to ploughing. All these can have a place as long as seedbed conditions are good enough. Soil must always be friable to make an adequate seedbed for oilseed rape. Wide row spacings can also make weed control more challenging. Wide-row or non-inversion systems do not suit organic manure incorporation. Ideally plants should meet across the rows before winter to help prevent pigeon damage.