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Has the yield potential of this year's slow emerging oilseed rape crops been damaged irreparably or do they first need a bit of extra care this autumn? Mike Abram reports
HOLIDAYMAKERS may have enjoyed the sun, but the new oilseed rape crop has desperately needed some good old-fashioned British rain. But don't give up on it at this early stage, even if emergence has been delayed and is variable.
That's the message from Richard Elsdon of United Oilseeds. "I'm not unduly concerned about later emerging crops losing much yield potential. More concerning would be growers looking at a small, backward crop, thinking it has low yield potential and not bothering with it. That's a self-fulfilling prophecy. As long as you have around 10 well-distributed plants per square metre at the end of winter, you should have a viable crop."
Oilseed rape prices of L150/t for harvest 2004 make it worth going the extra mile by spending to help the crop along this autumn, he says.
Hutchinson's Dick Neale agrees there's no need to panic. "As long as the crop has one to two leaves now, there shouldn't be a major problem. But small crops do need looking after carefully."
Last year, mixed emergence crops went on to yield almost as much as better-established crops, provided they came into spring healthy and well rooted. There's no reason to believe this year should be different, he says.
The key for growers will be to keep the crop growing, and growing fast, and not let anything hold it back, Mr Neale stresses. That means looking out for those traditional oilseed rape enemies - slugs, pigeons, and cabbage stem flea beetles - keeping weed competition to a minimum, and controlling diseases early.
"While it's dry, slugs are not an issue. They've gone deep and have not had a good breeding season anyway. But you've got to be ready for them once they come back to the surface, especially since small, backward crops are much more vulnerable."
Using the correct slug pellet at the right rate is important too, and depends on the weather at that time, Mr Neale says. "If it has just been a run of showers then mini's can be used quite effectively. But in...