What has happened to this year’s winter oilseed rape crop?
A recent survey of UK farmers conducted by the Kleffmann Group has revealed that 22% (155,000 ha’s) of the originally planted winter oilseed rape crop was ploughed up, leaving just 545,000 hectares of this crop to harvest - a significant impact on the original planted area of 701,000 hectares.
What has happened to this year’s winter oilseed rape crop?
The Kleffmann Group, partnered in the UK by Independent Business Resource Limited (IBR-Ltd), conducts on-going comprehensive surveys of UK farmers, collecting quantitative and qualitative information related to crops and inputs. The most recent survey asked farmers what area of winter oilseed rape they planted this year and how many hectares of this originally drilled oilseed rape did they need to plough up?
“The extreme weather conditions this year with record rain and cold had a severe impact on winter rape crops, with crops suffering from slugs, flooding and all manner of difficulties. Consequently many farmers decided to plough them up and plant spring crops or leave the fields fallow,” says Roger Pratchett, Director of IBR-Ltd.
He reports that overall 22% of the original crop was ploughed up, but there was considerable variation between regions. “The worse hit regions were the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside where 27% of the winter rape crop was ploughed up, closely followed closely by the North east and the South east with 26% of the crop grubbed up. The West Midlands ploughed up 23% and the South west 21% of the original crop. The Regions that fared the best were the Eastern Region with just 12% of the crop ploughed up and Scotland with 17%. Looking at the July to September rainfall figures, the North east had the most rain with 165% of the long term average, the North West had 158% of the long term average, the Midlands 146%, South west 151% but the East 123% and Scotland 116%. This indicates that the weather conditions had a negative effect on this crop. The Kleffmann Group survey also asked farmers what they would be doing with the land where failed crops had been ploughed up and a significant number of farmers were leaving the land fallow with another sizable group deciding to grow spring barley. Spring oilseed rape, linseed, pulses and potatoes also featured.”
Further information at: http://www.kleffmann.com and http://www.ibr-ltd.com
