Give OSR lot more care for top profit
By Andrew Blake
OILSEED RAPE merits much more attention if UK producers are to maximise profits from what is set to remain a key crop after CAP reform.
That was the underlying message from several speakers at a meeting organised by NK Seeds near Rugby last week.
Pressure to cut costs in the light of poor prices has led too many growers to cut corners, especially in sowing the crop, suggested Frontier”s Charlie Whitmarsh.
Despite advances in varieties, the UK”s national average yield remains relatively low at about 3.3t/ha (27 cwt/acre). In other parts of Europe, where the crop is treated more as a cash crop in itself than as a cereals break, output is well ahead, he pointed out. “In Germany, they”re getting up to 1t/ha more, and the gap has increased fairly significantly in the past four years.”
Better established, more uniform crops will give growers the chance to make the most of the anticipated growth in demand for rapeseed, Mr Whitmarsh argued.
“Establishment is the key to higher yields and better gross margins.”
Rapid expansion of biodiesel in the EU is expected to see rapeseed demand outstripping supply in the next couple of years, according to ADM”s Stuart Carpenter.
“Without a significant increase in yields or area, in 2006/07 the EU could be short of rapeseed.”
Syngenta”s Bruce McKenzie, who foresees the UK crop area doubling as biodiesel production expands, urged growers to give as much attention to growing it as they do to milling wheats and potatoes.
“We”re watching this crop with great interest.”
Biodiesel aside, oilseed rape could become one of the main non-food crops used by industry alongside starch in the next 10-20 years, said Jeremy Tomkinson of the National Non-Food Crops Centre.
A range of technical issues need to be overcome to fully exploit all the opportunities, but already there are strong growth areas for bio<00AD>lubricants as mineral oil alternatives, said Dr Tomkinson.
“Chainsaws throw about 0.6 litres an hour off their bars. That”s like dropping an oil tanker across Europe”s forest floors every week.”
