Rape revival – recognising the benefits of true auto-casting

Following a combination of challenging autumn establishment conditions and cabbage stem flee beetle, many UK growers have walked away from oilseed rape in recent years. However, a significant number of growers have continued to grow pro table rape crops, so why have some succeeded whilst others have not?

Farmer James Naylor, of JR Naylor and Sons, who farms 1,000ha of combinable crops at Uffngton near Stamford, has always grown OSR – and, despite a recent reduction in the farm’s overall rape acreage due to inconsistent yields, he still sees a strong future for the crop if growers are prepared to look at true auto-casting to establish their OSR crops earlier.

“Although we farm 1,000ha in total, 600ha of that is contract farmed so we’re in business to ensure our clients make money as well as looking after our own successful fourth generation family farming business.”

Narrow rotation mistake

“Like many growers, we’d historically made the mistake of narrowing our rotation, so we’re now in the process of moving rape from 1-in-3 to 1-in-5, bringing in more break crops such as sugar beet and winter beans to improve our soil and control grass weeds more effectively.

“Prior to 2019, we had always struggled to establish rape early enough – often getting caught out by adverse weather conditions later in the year. Early establishment isn’t a complete agronomic x. However, if you can establish a strong healthy crop early, it is often able to outgrow pests and diseases as well as cope better with cold, wet conditions. Reducing establishment costs by removing a separate drilling pass also helps to protect soil, so there are a number of potential pluses to sowing your next OSR crop as you combine.

“Having previously purchased the company’s Avacast GR and Outcast V2 applicators, we knew the manufacturer Techneat Engineering and, after discussions with managing director Tom Neat, we opted to begin a one-year trial working with Techneat’s Autocast V2 applicator – a broadcasting system which can be used for both OSR and cover crops, which we mounted on our New Holland CR 9.90 combine harvester.

“Like most of the Techneat range, the strengths of the machine are that it is simple to operate, quick to set up and easy to calibrate. Fitted onto the combine header, the rapeseed is metered into an air-stream that is then distributed to a number of outlets spaced equally along the full width of the combine header. A dual hopper system enables us to place both seed and slug pellets beneath the chopped straw as we combine, conserving soil moisture and establishing the new rape crop as early as possible.”

Signiffcant establishment improvement

“Using the Autocast V2 for the first time last year, we had successfully established the rape by the second week of August, and, although this was still later than we wanted, it was a significant improvement on previous years. One of the key benefits to auto-casting is the economics. Using the new system enabled us to conservatively save £30/ha on the costs of establishment – and, given the considerable upfront investment in seed and inputs on OSR, any reduction in the overall cost has to be a bonus given the financial risks linked to growing rape.

“Beyond establishing OSR, we are also looking to widen the use of the new machine this autumn to establish a catch crop of tillage radish in order to put biomass and green manure back into the soil before drilling next year’s spring crops. The Autocast V2 will also be used to establish a crop of stubble turnips for one of our contract farming customers,” concludes Mr Naylor.

Strong argument for rape

Tom Neat worked closely with Mr Naylor throughout the trial and is also quick to recognise the problems many OSR growers currently face.

“The agronomic challenges for UK rape growers are well documented but, whilst many growers who have walked away from the crop are currently waiting on the future promise of more resilient rape varieties from seed breeders, the current price of OSR at over £400/t is a strong argument to relook at rape sooner rather than later.

“Resurgence in interest in the Autocast V2 is certainly down to growers turning away from conventional drilling in favour of being able to establish a new rape crop earlier, and at a much lower cost.

“Auto-casting is a zero till, zero carbon application system that creates a micro-climate beneath the chopped straw where the young rape plants can flourish. It helps to conserve moisture and there’s the option to broadcast slug pellets as you sow, to further protect the developing crop.

“As a responsible manufacturer, we are often made aware of farmers attempting to mimic auto-casting rape using the spinning discs on our Outcast V2 applicator. However, I would not advise this approach. Using the Outcast V2, which is essentially only designed to spread slug pellets, doesn’t allow the grower to place both rapeseed and pellets under the chopped straw and can result in pellets lodging in the grain ears of the crop,” warns Mr Neat. FG