Regional split opens up in oilseed rape plantings
© Tim Scrivener The planted area of oilseed rape in the South West has surged 11% compared with last season, as part of a migration of the popular break crop away from the South East.
This increase comes despite the total planted area in England being 1% lower than the total harvested area in 2016 at an estimated 538,000ha, according to the AHDB Winter Planting Survey.
It follows the Early Bird survey last autumn, offering the first glimpse of actual winter plantings as on 1 December.
The geographical shift in rapeseed growing will come as no surprise to many farmers in the South and East who have thrown in the towel with the UK’s most common oilseed in recent seasons after a perfect storm of yield-sapping issues.
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While the challenge of controlling cabbage stem flea beetle without neonicotinoid seed treatments – as well as a dry autumn – was the tipping point for many, the general shift away from winter cropping will also have had an impact, says AHDB market analyst Isobel Robinson.
“In recent years we have seen increased interest in cultural control for weeds and disease, particularly blackgrass, which has contributed to a rise in spring cropping,” she says.
Oat plantings are also unseasonably high for the time of year at 95,000ha, just 8% behind the area harvested last year despite a significant proportion of it traditionally being planted in spring.
The last time the total oat area peaked was in the 2013/14 season at 138,000ha in England, but the AHDB advises caution at this stage because the sample size is lower than the other crops.
Results of the full 2016/17 season of each crop by variety and area will be published in the summer.
