Field trials and agronomists have given the thumbs-up to anti-pod shatter product Pod Stik from De Sangosse.

A polymer blend, the product strengthens the upper pod seam in oilseed rape and pulse crops with an adhesive, pliable “staple”, reducing splitting and seed loss in the field and during combining.

Critically it doesn’t gum up sprayers or slow down combine inputs, David Foster, De Sangosse field manager, says.

In UK oilseed rape trials it has produced consistently higher yields of about 0.2-0.4t/ha, worth an extra £50-100/ha for an investment of about £10/ha.

Agronomists from a number of firms including ProCam, Hutchinsons, Frontier and CSC seem convinced. Last year of the 119 agronomists who recommended the product on farm, 101 said their growers measured a yield response and 112 were going to recommend the product more this season.

Growers widely reported no whitening and shelling out as the combines passed through the crop and fewer seeds lying in the swath, bringing fewer problems with volunteers in the following crop.

Velcourt‘s Rosemary Hall says that might ease spray needs in following wheat crops, providing a welcome cost-saving. The product produced a 0.2-0.3t/ha response in a crop of Castille, which was harvested in late July before the weather broke last summer.

“The response more than covers the cost and we’ll be testing it again this year and suggesting our managers use it on their rape crops,” she says.

Application should be to rape crops at GS80-89, or when pods are green and bendy and before they are fully ripe, but the timing can coincide with desiccation (pictured), Mr Foster notes.