North goes for hybrids
North goes for hybrids
HYBRID spring rapes are a big step forward for northern growers, says Scottish Agronomy.
With many conventional varieties still unharvested, the earliness of the latest hybrids seems increasingly attractive, especially for producers on marginal land, notes Andrew Gilchrist. "They are five to seven days earlier maturing."
"That can make all the difference between harvesting and not," says colleague Allen Scobie.
The firm began investigating early maturing turnip rape about 10 years ago.
"We identified it as a very good niche crop on ground where farmers were struggling to grow spring barley," says Mr Gilchrist. "It was a low input, low risk crop which was fit to harvest in the first week of September." Since then turnip rape volunteers have become a nuisance where winter and spring types are grown in the same rotation.
The latest Hyola varieties from Canada should prove useful substitutes, he suggests. "Hyola 38 is close to the maturity of turnip rape, but 10-15% higher yielding. Hyola 401 is slightly later but has yields akin to the best conventional swede varieties. We have had up to 28cwt/acre on the best ground, and growers should reasonably expect over 1t."
The vigour of the new types should prove useful at the start of the season, he adds. "With the Hyolas we can drill earlier. We like to see them in by the end of March." *