This time last year I was spending half my days chasing pigeons off oil seed rape crops. I was using loads of petrol, cartridges, bangers, rockets and so on every single day and it really got me down. However, much to my surprise and delight, when it came to harvest, we combined just short of five tonnes per hectare. So perhaps my daily drives round the rape fields were worthwhile.
This winter pigeon frightening has been much less onerous. The fact is, in common with most farmers in this region, because of the awful wet weather when we should have been planting we did not get the rape drilled until the middle of September last year and it never got properly established. It has clearly hated having wet feet all autumn and instead of growing away and looking like small cabbages, most of it seems to have virtually disappeared. At least thats what it looks like from the road and presumably from the air as well because most of the local pigeons are looking elsewhere for their food.
Needless to say I'm enjoying missing the daily pigeon patrol. But I am very concerned at the lack of much evidence of a crop and wondering what to do about it. I know that rape has amazing recovery powers but have we got sufficient plant stand to start with?
We walked the rape fields with our agronomist the other day and he told us not to be so pessimistic; that while we might need to redrill some areas the majority would probably be OK. I'm not so sure. But I will let you know in due course.