Despite the dreadful weather conditions that many farmers are facing and the difficulties of the wheat harvest, winter oilseed rape is still the only real viable option when it comes to gross margin. But the later drilling that will inevitably follow this year"e;s later wheat harvest should steer growers towards rape varieties that have a package of desirable characteristics including early vigour, high disease resistance, early maturity and low biomass.
John Hardy of Grainseed points out that oilseed rape is still top of the gross margin table and that, even drilled late, will provide better profitability than other autumn options such as winter beans. "It is probably a much better bet than many wheats too, particularly if grain quality is poor and the crop goes for feed. But you need to choose the right oilseed rape variety this year, which is one that has early vigour and can be harvested early, such as the candidate variety Es Alienor."
John says he is less concerned about specifying the latest drilling date and more concerned about getting establishment right and the crop off to a decent start. "If you have a crop which comes through strongly and establishes well in moist seedbeds, you are off to a winning start. Alienor is not only intrinsically vigorous, very similar to hybrids such as Excalibur, but this year its seed has been treated with the seed treatment Modesto (clothianidin + beta-cyflutrin) which has shown to increase the number of plants and improve the crop stand even further. It is a definite option for later drilling when farmers are considering what to plant after wheat."
Independent agronomist Richard Palmer of FarmVision is trying some Alienor on several farms in East Anglia. "So far this season Alienor has established very well and very quickly behind the sub-soiler and is looking very vigorous. We chose to grow Alienor for its excellent disease resistance, its low biomass and its earliness of maturity, although its vigour is looking good, too., which will be particularly important in this late establishment season"
Alienor is the earliest of all varieties in the current HGCA Recommended List trials.
"Being early maturing means that the Alienor can be cleared off the field much earlier than other mainstream rape varieties. This would have been an enormous benefit to growers this year, and last, as it could have been harvested and safely in the barn well before other rape varieties, and so provide a good entry for the next crop." comments Mr. Hardy.
Es Alienor also provides high disease resistance which adds to its favourable gross margin. "Alienor has the top combined disease resistance profile of all varieties with 7.4 resistance rating for Phoma stem canker, which is also multi gene, so unlikely to break down, and 6.2 for Light Leaf Spot. Compare this to Castille with 5.8 for Phoma and 5.0 for Light Leaf Spot or Excalibur with 4.7 for Phoma and 6.1 for Light Leaf Spot."
"Farmers are having to make some difficult decisions this autumn as to what to grow. We would say that oilseed rape still gives the best return on investment, providing you are growing a strong and vigorous variety that will establish well. Don"e;t concern yourself too much about absolute drilling dates ; conditions are very important. Last year we were selling rape seed well into the end of September and growers were planting at that time, without the advantage of good soil moisture as we have this year," says Mr. Hardy.
For further comment and information on the oilseed rape varieties Es Alienor or other Grainseed varieties such as Es Astrid, please contact John Hardy, Director of Grainseed Ltd on 01379 871073 or 07836 582436.
