Winter Oilseed Rape Tips

C

Cork

Guest
Hi all,

I have put together a few pointers for those growing Oilseed rape to help them get the most out of the crop, please see the following link:

http://www.goldcrop.ie/

Hope you find it useful.
 
Hi Cork, have been doing some sums. Reckon it costs about €300 for inputs to grow WOSR, 1.5t at €350 would make €525 leaving €225 to cover land and machinery costs. Suppose there's a good chance of getting more if you got good establishment but the price really needs to be around €400 for it to be a runner. Is it a worthwhile bet at all at current prices?
 
Hi Cork, have been doing some sums. Reckon it costs about €300 for inputs to grow WOSR, 1.5t at €350 would make €525 leaving €225 to cover land and machinery costs. Suppose there's a good chance of getting more if you got good establishment but the price really needs to be around €400 for it to be a runner. Is it a worthwhile bet at all at current prices?

Iwould agree with you about the price, the farmer would need some sort of min price by right especially as its a risky crop to forward sell from the point of view it could yied anywhere from 1ton to 2ton/acre.

I grew some this year and it cost €500/acre from start to finish so 1.43 tons to break even
 
Hi Cork, have been doing some sums. Reckon it costs about €300 for inputs to grow WOSR, 1.5t at €350 would make €525 leaving €225 to cover land and machinery costs. Suppose there's a good chance of getting more if you got good establishment but the price really needs to be around €400 for it to be a runner. Is it a worthwhile bet at all at current prices?

Hi 6600,

I agree that it is an expensive crop to grow.

I've been growing it since 2007 and genuinely have yet to,get a yield below 1.85/ac. Some of this in non virgin oilseed rape land.

I would also argue that as a break crop, it reliably puts a 1/2tn on the yield of the following cereal crop and also benefits the yield of the second cereal crop in the case of barley. We also grow at least one year and up to 3 years of cereal seed following this break crop at an added nett benefit of €50/year (3 years of spring/winter barley seed = 3 x €50 = €150/acre.

I would estimate that the return from growing spring feed barley at a yield below 3tn/ac is also very small, however it remains the largest arable crop in Ireland at an average yield of 2.6-2.7tn/ac according to the CSO.

A lot questions must be asked of those very low yielding wosr crops in terms of the agronomy, establishment and variety choices used.

Just my opinion, all contributions welcome!
 
It is a brilliant break crop and the benefits are seen in the following 2 or 3 crops. Have grown it before and got a shade over 1.8 both times. There is a good bit grown for hybrid seed locally and the margins on that look attractive so long as it passes for seed. I was considering rape this year but have gone with oats instead as a break. €160/ac will pay for the seed, N and fungicide. The cost of weed control, P+K and Roundup would bring the total to no more than €250. 3t and €150/t will leave a margin of €200+straw. Not great either but more chance of higher than lower hopefully.
I will grow rape in the future once fertility is 100% and the price is right but cannot risk a nil return for next year.
 
Have you heard anything CORK about the EU wanting to ban Germany from importing rape? Apparently they take 60% of the UK crop. Their reason is food scarcity but really they're trying to dampen food prices by putting land away from energy crops. Its not great news and they will destroy a valuable crop for us if this comes to pass.
 
Hadn't heard about this oilseed rape threat, not good news if it comes to pass.

Oats is becoming more popular, i wouldn't rate it as highly as rape in terms of a break crop. I've seen take all in wheat after beans, oats and maize. Never seen it after beet or oilseed rape though.

Oats certainly costs less to grow though and can give good yields to the following cereal.
 
Hi 6600,

I agree that it is an expensive crop to grow.

I've been growing it since 2007 and genuinely have yet to,get a yield below 1.85/ac. Some of this in non virgin oilseed rape land.

I would also argue that as a break crop, it reliably puts a 1/2tn on the yield of the following cereal crop and also benefits the yield of the second cereal crop in the case of barley. We also grow at least one year and up to 3 years of cereal seed following this break crop at an added nett benefit of €50/year (3 years of spring/winter barley seed = 3 x €50 = €150/acre.

I would estimate that the return from growing spring feed barley at a yield below 3tn/ac is also very small, however it remains the largest arable crop in Ireland at an average yield of 2.6-2.7tn/ac according to the CSO.

A lot questions must be asked of those very low yielding wosr crops in terms of the agronomy, establishment and variety choices used.

Just my opinion, all contributions welcome!


You talk some amount of sense, different yields for different fields, rape may not be for everybody, but its a great crop for improving soil imo and needs to be looked at in terms of a rotation rather than just on its 1 year profit/loss, in our case we intend to grow winter oats and spring rape as the lead into 1st wheats, where there is potential for yield and profit, we will also be growing winter wheat in rotation with maize and some continuous wheat where the land suits wheat,fertility is high and we have access to slurry, we will continue to grow winter barley as it suits a lot of the land we farm, we have a good market for straw too, gets our harvest started early, we will continue to grow spring barley but not a big amount of it unless we end up in the same situation as last autumn when we sowed about 8% of our normal acreage.
 
This probably should have went in the mistake of the day thread but when sowing the rape I managed to sow a bag in the first 2 ac. A seal had gone weak at the bottom of the metering wheel letting the seed out by it. So if you ever wanted to know what rape looked like sown at 4 times the rate there ya go ! There's another couple of pics of what the rest of it looks like. Should I run the grubber through the thick part to thin it out?
 

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This probably should have went in the mistake of the day thread but when sowing the rape I managed to sow a bag in the first 2 ac. A seal had gone weak at the bottom of the metering wheel letting the seed out by it. So if you ever wanted to know what rape looked like sown at 4 times the rate there ya go ! There's another couple of pics of what the rest of it looks like. Should I run the grubber through the thick part to thin it out?

bet the field in picture 2 will taste nicer to the pigeons than field in picture 1 :D
 
This probably should have went in the mistake of the day thread but when sowing the rape I managed to sow a bag in the first 2 ac. A seal had gone weak at the bottom of the metering wheel letting the seed out by it. So if you ever wanted to know what rape looked like sown at 4 times the rate there ya go ! There's another couple of pics of what the rest of it looks like. Should I run the grubber through the thick part to thin it out?

Sorry, meant to reply before now. If that's Sensation then i would estimate that there could be 170 plants/m2 in those first 2 acres. Far too thick and yield will be hampered. Sensation has excellent standing power but is likely to come under lodging pressure there.

Optimum plant population would be 40-45 plants/m2 in the spring.

It would be good if you could remove at least 50-70% of the plants.

Cant think of any alternative to the grubber. Grubbing will also damage your weed control if Butisan or Katamaran has been applied. However plant competition should be good at smothering weeds.
 
It's Sensation alright. Will get the grubber out so. Have no weed control done yet Cork what are my options at this stage?
 
How is everyone's weed control?
I used butisan s straight after sowing on very dry ground
Seem to have alot of little weeds emerging lately
 
Given the great weather at present, is there a danger of OSR being too good heading into the spring.

Seen some superb crops of rape in the UK over the past few days, the pigeons had better being fasting up to now.
 
It's Sensation alright. Will get the grubber out so. Have no weed control done yet Cork what are my options at this stage?

Butisan S or Katamaran are my preferred weed controls but they need to go on pre-emergence of the crop and weeds or else very early post emergence. They usually do a very clean job.

When was the crop sown? if you could post a few weed pics to give an idea of their size, that would be helpful.

If it is too late for the above chemicals, then the only option is Kerb Flo (or generics such as Turbo etc). This chemical is applied when the soil is cold and works by killing the weeds through the roots. Normally this is applied in Dec-Jan. It wont kill all weeds but is usually good enough as any remaining weeds should be smothered by the crop. It will also kill cereal volunteers and annual meadow grass.
 
weed control ok here aramo working but slow.
alot of volunteers everywhere this year.

I used Butisan just as the tramlines were becoming visible. Used high enough rate (1.8l/ha) as the soil was dry and some weeds had emerged.

It did an excellent job. The weeds (mostly red dead nettle) which had emerged are now stopped and burnt in the centre. No other weeds except the odd knotgrass plant have come since.

Sprayed Aramo (0.9L/Ha) on Saturday and threw in 1kg/ha of Solubor while I was going through.

The trial plots were sown later (first days of Sept) and also received the Butisan. No grass weed spray there yet just in case they haven't all emerged.

I applied Salsa on the trials area on Saturday as there is some Charlock present there. Salsa needs good growth to work so hopefully the warm weekend and Monday will do the job. Growth will really slow down from Wednesday onwards and I wouldn't think Salsa will work thereafter.


Crops are certainly growing well, especially those which were planted at the end of August. Personally, I am delighted with this, all too often we have been trying to nurse weak crops.
The strong crop will have a better root to soak up nutrients and also to help it grow away from pigeons in January.
Big lush crops will need more intensive management to avoid lodging but this should be easily done once you have the right plant population and by selecting your fungicides carefully in the autumn and spring.

Of course, a variety like Sensation which has excellent lodging resistance will help an awful lot (sorry, couldn't help but put in a plug...!)
 
What's the best fungicide to use on my dk cabernet, it's not massive so I don't need to much growth regulation.
 
What's the best fungicide to use on my dk cabernet, it's not massive so I don't need to much growth regulation.

I'd recommend half rate Proline (0.4 l/ha). Best on disease control but no pgr effect.

I'll do my growth regulation in the spring if it needs it.
 
It's Sensation alright. Will get the grubber out so. Have no weed control done yet Cork what are my options at this stage?

[MENTION=367]CoNaMi[/MENTION]

Just wondered did you thin out that thick patch of Oilseed Rape afterwards?
 
[MENTION=367]CoNaMi[/MENTION]

Just wondered did you thin out that thick patch of Oilseed Rape afterwards?

I feel a bit like I've landed into school with no homework done:lol:
No Cork never got round to it tbh. It's extremely thick at the minute with a fair bit of yellowing on the leaves. It's also a good bit taller than the rest 3-4" I'd say.

Pigeons have just started on the rape now(not on the thick patch of course). No major damage with a few lads keeping an eye on it. This bit of land is along the motorway with a by road running parallel to it. Noticed before that pigeons usually stay away from traffic noise.

Bit of Kerb will be the next job whenever it dries up although it seems dry enough at the minute compared to other land. Maybe the tap root is helping drainage.
 
I feel a bit like I've landed into school with no homework done:lol:
No Cork never got round to it tbh. It's extremely thick at the minute with a fair bit of yellowing on the leaves. It's also a good bit taller than the rest 3-4" I'd say.

Pigeons have just started on the rape now(not on the thick patch of course). No major damage with a few lads keeping an eye on it. This bit of land is along the motorway with a by road running parallel to it. Noticed before that pigeons usually stay away from traffic noise.

Bit of Kerb will be the next job whenever it dries up although it seems dry enough at the minute compared to other land. Maybe the tap root is helping drainage.

Tut tut, now go and stand in the corner young man :lol:

It could still be thinned I guess but would have to be done before the Kerb.

Either way Sensation is excellent at standing so I'm sure you'll be fine.
 
Just had a look through our Sensation OSR this evening.

Thankfully, the pigeons are making only a very small impact on it. From what I have counted, there doesn't seem to be more than one pigeon per acre.

This is in a mainly grassland area with no other rape grown around. Rape is only grown on this farm 1 year in 4 so my thinking is that the pigeon population haven't increased.

In another area (where I do the variety trials), there is rape in the immediate area every year. The result is an increase in the pigeon population due to reliable feeding sources.

Rooting looks really good and the beginning of stem extension is just visible.

It received 100kg/acre of 10.10.20 in the autumn. Once growth really commences, it will receive just a little bit more of 10.10.20 and then Can+S from there on (probably in two splits, the last going on as late as is possible to spread).
I had looked at using ASN as the S level is higher but the CAN+S will deliver more than enough S.
 

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