Harvesting and drilling Astrid oilseed rape

Astrid has performed well on the land farmed by NW Moore and Sons based at Cranes Watering Farm, near Harleston, Norfolk. The farm has averaged 1.85 – 1.95 t/acre (4.57 – 4.82 t/hectare) and mirrors results from NIABTAG Morley which were reported yesterday at 104% (4.33 t/ha or 1.75 t/acre). The Astrid type varieties have been at the top of the yield table at Morley with daughter variety Es Cubic producing a yield of 105%.

Duncan Feavearyear, one of the main arable workers on the farm and combine driver, commented “Astrid has always done us well; it is really easy to combine and we’ve got our fields cut and cultivated whilst other neighbours still haven’t started to cut their rape yet.”

“We had a little rain overnight and so have spread chicken muck and the Simba DTX 330 is making a tremendous job of drilling the Astrid. We have changed the front winged tines this year to a narrower tine and improved the seedbed significantly. The front tines of the DTX 330 work at 10 inches and we’ve got a set of discs on the front linkage, too, since we upgraded the tractor to the 7230. We’ll roll afterwards and pray for some gentle rain.”

Graham Moore, who oversees the area contract farmed, reckons the yields would have been even higher, but the outside 5m of each field received no slug pellets as all the fields have watercourses around them. “All the fields after barley will be drilled mid-August and as soon as the wheat is off we’ll be drilling these too. We’re keen to get the rape in well since it’s so much easier to manage an even crop than one that’s struggling”.