Providing an extra boost for OSR this Spring, should be at the forefront of every growers mind. With a tough few years for growing the crop and values at record highs, optimising plant health to improve end yields will be crucial as the plant nears harvest.
The weather, as always, has put the crop under stress this year. Very little rain for a prolonged period of time means the plant is in need of a foliar top up, to keep the crop performing while the seed develops and builds oil.
Oilseed rape doesn’t take up soil nitrogen after flowering, so the lack of rainfall in many areas may have left nitrogen in the soil, not taken up by the crop and application directly onto the foliage with foliar nitrogen should pay dividends this year.
Nitrogen is needed to maintain canopy, pod and stem greenness to produce yield and after flowering, foliar application is the only method that will keep crops performing and photosynthesising to fill the potentially large numbers of seeds set following the sunny weather. For the best results, foliar nitrogen should be applied at the end of flowering (after 90-95% petal fall) using normal spray nozzles to coat the pods, stems and upper leaves.
Checking the crop for nutrient levels with SAP Analysis will give you an in-depth analysis of what nutrients the crop is lacking, and an agronomist will advise on the best course of action for your crop. In most situations Oilseed Extra is the order of the day. Oilseed Extra is an inorganic solution containing nitrogen, magnesium and a balanced mix of micronutrients. It’s used to increase yield by boosting the nitrogen content during the criticial pod and seed development stages, and provides a greater yield increase than with urea alone.
Oilseed Extra gave double the increase of straight urea. In 26 positive trials the average yield response in oilseed rape was 0.3 t/ha to 40-50kg of N applied at or after flowering.
Speak to your local OMEX technical expert for advice, although generally 200 l/ha should be applied early morning or late evening with an additional 100 l/ha water to ensure thorough coverage of the canopy, to give an extra boost for OSR.
OMEX run numerous technical trials each year, researching and developing products for maximum efficiency and over a period of 9 consecutive years, trials with Oilseed Extra have returned an average yield increase of 0.61 t/ha, versus an increase of 0.3 t/ha with foliar urea. In five years of Frontier trials, it produced consistent, positive yield responses each year with an average increase of 0.52 t/ha.