ProCam requires growers to maximise oil content material regardless of falling OSR costs

Agronomy enterprise ProCam has known as for growers to maximise oil content material to optimise bonuses paid on prime of yield regardless of the falling of UK oilseed rape (OSR) from the earlier £600/t.

ProCam agronomist Daniel Hatchett stated, if an oil bonus pays 1.5% of the crop’s buy worth for each 1% of oil content material above 40%, there’s a lot to play for.

Hatchett stated the important thing to understanding what influences oil manufacturing so agronomy may be geared accordingly.

“Oil content material is affected by plant density, the variety of pods per plant and the variety of seeds per pod. For max oil content material, photosynthesis have to be maximised. Sustaining the correct quantity of inexperienced space within the crop is due to this fact key,” he stated.

Nitrogen (N) is a first-rate driver of photosynthetic exercise and yield, stated Hatchett, however making use of extreme N to push yield can adversely have an effect on oil content material, whereas extreme sulphur (S) deficiencies can even influence on each seed and oil yield.

“For a tonne of seed yield, 15kg/ha of S is recommended to be wanted. If S is poor, in addition to having yield implications, the chlorophyll content material of seeds is raised and so they flip inexperienced. This reduces high quality for crushers and probably oil content material,” he stated.

“In addition to macronutrients, micronutrients should even be in stability. Manganese deficiency alone can drastically lower the crop’s means to photosynthesise, even with out seen signs. However an vital interval for influencing crop inexperienced space is round flowering.”

Affect on yield

Hatchett stated growers are ware that the illness sclerotinia can have a big influence on yield, and controlling it with a strong fungicide on the appropriate flowering stage is important.

“By utilising an SDHI and/or strobilurin for this, there’s a further greening profit which is extraordinarily helpful in constructing yield – even within the absence of illness,” he stated.

As well as, he stated, maximising gentle penetration all through the crop is vastly vital for photosynthetic exercise, so checking the crop’s inexperienced space index and choosing a fungicide with PGR exercise is important the place canopies are overly thick.

“The cover may be optimised additional by making use of a biostimulant therapy containing vitamins and pidolic acid at yellow bud stage,” he stated.

“It’s because pidolic acid allows the crop to make use of N extra successfully, serving to to advertise inexperienced leaf retention and chlorophyll content material, each of that are essential throughout pod-fill.

“Certainly, late N in OSR has been discovered to push yields and oil content material. So a pidolic acid-containing therapy additionally matches nicely forward of a later foliar N spray utilized at mid-flowering.”

Finish of the season

Hatchett stated, on the finish of the season, it’s essential to get harvest administration proper.

“Seed filling in OSR happens over roughly six weeks, with most oil being laid down through the second half of this,” he stated.

“Desiccating or swathing too early dangers dropping as much as 2% a day in yield and compromising oil content material. Alternatively, harvesting too late dangers seed losses as a consequence of pod shatter. So it’s about discovering a stability.

“Making use of a well-timed pod sealant towards shatter and selecting the optimum time to reap can considerably increase oil yield.”

Hatchett stated growers could discover it tempting to tank-mix a pod sealant and desiccant, however that their optimum timings don’t coincide.

“Final season’s excessive oil contents might probably be attributed to pod sealants being utilized individually from desiccation as a result of crop’s excessive worth. This 12 months ought to be no totally different,” he stated.

“Doing the whole lot to protect yield and promote oil content material is probably going to offer one of the best monetary reward.”