September 11, 2013

 

UK rapeseed drilling rises on dry weather

 

 

Boosted by dry weather and a better-than-expected 2013 harvest, a late surge in oilseed rape drilling could see this season's rapeseed area grow close to last season's.

 

After a tough growing season and a decline in rapeseed prices, many had expected a fall in the rapeseed area but good weather has seen many complete drilling during August.

 

Traders report seed sales are down this season, but with many crops in the ground well established there is likely to be fewer ripped up this winter.

 

Harvest forecasts have edged up to about two million tonnes, with yields better than first thought, and this, along with dry drilling weather, has encourage growers to stick with the crop.

 

"The area might be stable to down a bit, but we are not expecting any new records and not any mass exits," says Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) analyst Jack Watts.

 

The HGCA estimate this year's harvested crop dropped 9% to 686,000 hectares from 2012's 756,000 hectares, but traders believe it could be as low at 650,000 hectares.

 

Harvest estimates were about 1.8 million tonnes two months ago, but many now look toward a national crop of about two million tonnes.

 

"We see a harvest of 2.1 million tonnes with yields down 7-10%," says United Oilseeds trading manager Owen Cligg, who predicts a crop area for harvest 2014 of 600,000-650,000 hectares.

 

Jonathan Lane, trading manager at Gleadell, sees a crop of a 1.9-2 million tonnes, with yields better than forecast back in the spring.

 

Traders say the rapeseed heartland of East Anglia and Lincolnshire is expected to see "normal" plantings, but further north and west could see falls after a difficult harvest.

 

With many new crops emerging early, agronomists say growers should be looking at plant growth regulators (PGR) and disease control of phoma and light leaf spot.

 

"With some crops well ahead at the four-leaf stage, growers should be considering using a PGR," says Christine Lilly, technical support manager at adviser Frontier.

 

She suggests using a triazole fungicide such as metconazole or tebuconazole to control growth, with the only downside being that these are not as active on diseases as other fungicides.