Establishment scheme tips the scales as OSR hangs in the balance

It is the second week in April and Charles and Philip Roberts’ DK Exsteel looks superb in the spring sunshine.

After a good start, the farm’s 85 acres of oilseed rape appear to have plenty of potential, the brothers agree. Yet OSR is in the last chance saloon at Riggall’s Farm, following two years of heavy crop losses as a result of cabbage stem flea beetle damage.

“We’d been growing oilseed rape pretty successfully for a number of years with the (DEKALB) Ex hybrid varieties.

“We liked them because they were pod shatter resistant, they were relatively compact and they were consistent,” says Charles.

“But as soon as the neonic seed treatments were banned, we started to struggle with cabbage stem flea beetle. We had a year or two where we had maybe not too bad a crop but the last couple of years have been a complete disaster.”

However, oilseed rape is an important break crop on the 550-acre farm at Frithville near Boston in the Lincolnshire fens.

“This is a heavy land farm. Wheat is our number one crop and oilseed rape has been our number one break crop, but it's got a question mark over it,” says Philip.

“We are very limited for break crops; in the last 25 years oilseed rape has become very important for us and if we lose it, it will leave a massive hole.”

Late last summer the brothers agreed to give oilseed rape one ‘last roll of the dice’, drilling what might potentially be their last crop between September 6th-10th

Establishment scheme

The deciding factor was Agrii’s establishment support scheme, under which DK Exsteel is among the varieties supported, with backing from Bayer.

“There's a fine margin between winning and losing. The establishment scheme made the difference this season, because if the rape had failed, we knew we could recoup the cost of the seed,” says Charles.

The establishment scheme gives growers more confidence to drill oilseed rape in the face of ongoing issues with cabbage stem flea beetle and challenging weather conditions, adds Agrii seed technical specialist David Leaper.

“Over the past five years, we have run a number of successful establishment schemes to offset the risks of growing oilseed rape,” he says.

The combine will be the final judge of the 2025 oilseed rape crop and there is a way to go until harvest, but this season the Roberts brothers’ DK Exsteel looks to be in with a fighting chance of success.