arable & root crops To delay or not to delay… that is the OSR question
In my view By John Cameron Balbuthie, Kilconquhar, Fife
“We wait and wait and wait”
With the new cropping cycle just around the corner, ADAMA recently hosted a Twitter poll to find out when growers plan to drill their new crops of winter oilseed rape. Of the 238 people that responded, the majority (42%) have no set date in mind and will let the weather dictate when drilling can commence. Of the remaining participants, 38% stated that they intend to drill in late July or early August to enable the crop to establish and grow away from the threat of damage caused by adult Cabbage Stem Flea Beetles. The remaining 20% intend to delay drilling until September in order to allow the CSFB migration to have taken place. “Deciding when to drill oilseed rape is always a tricky conundrum,” explains Dr Bill Lankford, ADAMA’s herbicides technical specialist, “not least because of the need to balance the costs of ensuring the crop establishes viably against its overall profitability. “Essentially there’s no right or wrong answer as no two farms are the same and neither are any two rotational strategies. Instead, growers must weigh up the pros
and cons of drilling early versus the benefits of waiting until after the CSFB migration has taken place. “It’s interesting to see that 20% of respondents are willing to delay drilling until after the migration of adult flea beetles: if conditions later in the year enable these growers to establish a decent crop one would expect a lower risk of feeding damage and a reduced numbers of eggs being laid. “On the other hand, 38% are clearly determined to get a crop in and established before the CSFB migration. Whilst this strategy has the benefit of enabling the crop to build sufficient biomass that any feeding at the time of adult beetle migration will be inconsequential, there is always the risk that egg laying will be significant, and a forward crop will foster a large population of larvae which could cause notable damage later in the season. For more information about ADAMA’s autumn herbicide recommendations download a free copy of the latest autumn cropping guide athttps:// uk.campaigns.adama.com/ autumn-cropping-guide-2021
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So far, there have been several sets of proposals from different organisations as to the future direction of Agricultural Policy and support, following our exit from the EU. Many of these have understandably come from agricultural organisations but some have originated from independent institutes and some have been set up by Government itself – for example all of the so called ‘Farmer Led’ groups have been initiated by Government – a move that was welcomed at the time by the industry. In the Government’s Political Manifesto published around election time we were assured that ‘guidance’ at least – if not ‘decisions’ would be forthcoming within 100 days of the new Government. Well like the catchphrase from the old film ‘Casablanca’ we ‘wait and wait and wait’ and in fact at the time of writing we are still waiting! We all accept that changes in policy and support measures are going to develop. Apart from our exit from the EU we have to face up to the implications of Climate Change, ever changing biodiversity requirements as well as changes in the existing agricultural financial support structure. We will meet these new challenges as we always have done but for future welfare and performance of the industry –
because of the long term nature of our productive capacity we need to know the future requirement and the future policy direction of the industry and we need to know it sooner rather than later if we are to achieve our new objectives. What we also need to know is the Government’s reaction to some of the largely unsubstantiated claims made against the industry. For example the requirement for the National Beef Herd to be reduced by some 25% if we are to achieve our emission target, with no reference to the obvious increase in emissions to import even part of that beef deficiency. Secondly what is Government’s reaction to the increasing evidence that in order to protect bird diversity and numbers the successful areas of bird habitat need to be grazed by livestock. Also by way the way – how about some credit for the role of livestock and agriculture in maintaining the social fabric of the less favoured areas. Oh, - I know - how would we measure it?! Lastly – to allow me to complete my feelings I get a bit fed up when our industry is criticised for its emissions by others who are blatantly creating an even bigger problem! Meanwhile for the industry’s future guidance and policy we wait, and wait, and wait!
