Pesky pigeons are the bane of all oilseed rape growers, decimating crops. But we, at Farmers Weekly, have heard anecdotal evidence that pigeons prefer some varieties over others. For example, several growers have found they are not so keen munching on the hybrid variety Compass. Has anyone else found this? Or, have you found that they prefer certain other varieties?

ohbakasan:

anecdotal evidence

Anecdotal!

Pigeons dont like to eat rape plants with a higher level of glucosinates in the leaf. They very much dislike Excalibur for that reason. Hence all I grow is Excalibur. It's also a really good variety.

I'm sure that I have read somewhere that it's the same for slugs. It seems that breeding rape varieties with lower levels of glucosinulates to allow a greater use of rapemeal in livestock feed has resulted in tastier plants for pigeons and slugs.

On a similar note, I couldnt help notice on my recent annual Christmas drive to Yorkshire and back from Hampshire, that there seemed to be many more pigeons grazing rape fields than in previous years. I assume the cold weather has concentrated them onto rape as other food sources dwindle or that numbers have really increased substantially.