Oilseed Rape Agronomy Update: Establishment and Nutrition
Our latest update, written by Phil Burrell: Head of Agronomy, looks at optimising Oilseed Rape Establishment with the correct nutrition.
Optimising Oilseed Rape Establishment With Correct Nutrition
There are many factors that need to come together for successful oilseed rape establishment, these include but are not limited to soil moisture, seedbed quality, varietal choice, drilling date, companion crops, however here we focus on crop nutrition.
The first thing to do is ensure you have up to date soil analysis, this is particularly important when it comes to pH and phosphorus availability. Phosphorous has the narrowest band of availability between pH 6.5 and 7.0. Either side of this soil availability drops off dramatically. If your soils have low pH then correcting with lime is essential.
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Oilseed Rape Agronomy Update: Establishment and Nutrition
The key thing is to ensure the crop has readily available nitrogen and phosphorous to aid both above and below ground growth. Nitrogen is vital for building above ground biomass quickly to allow the crop to get away as we aim to get the crop to 4TL as soon as possible. Phosphorous on the other hand is there to support rooting, having a good root system can improve nutrient and water uptake throughout the growing season. Getting a plant established before winter with a thick stem collar and a deep tap root can help the crop overcome stress.
The Right Product, The Right Place, The Right Time.
Placing N&P on the drill is the best way to ensure you are getting the right nutrition in the right place and the right time. This is particularly the case where the crop is drilled in wide rows. Band application of OMEX Multiflo N&P starter fertiliser places nutrients where the crop can access them, this has several benefits. Firstly, when band applied you get a higher concentration of nutrition where it is required, this gives the crop the best start. Secondly, this has both financial and environmental benefits as you can use less nutrition overall, keeping within NVZ nitrogen limits, Thirdly, you are not applying fertiliser to where the crop will not grow, thus feeding weeds.
OMEX Multiflo fertilisers are 100% fully soluble meaning they are readily available to the crop. On high pH soils Polymex can be co-applied to prevent the phosphate being locked up by calcium making even more of the phosphate available to the plant.
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Oilseed Rape Agronomy Update: Nitrogen and Phosphorus
If your soils have a good reserve of available phosphorus or if you are drilling in narrow rows/broadcasting the seed across the full working width of the drill/cultivator then an application of OMEX Nitroflo may be a more cost effective option.
The key thing here is to get it on the seedbed before or immediately post drilling (not when the crop is emerged) In choosing this route you are not applying any phosphate, in this situation a phosphite biostimulant would be very useful.
OMEX Kickstart applied at the 2 to 4TL stage of the oilseed rape (depending on crop cover) will stimulate rooting, giving that crop a boost by utilising the advanced phosphite formulation. Kickstart is widely tank mixable with the key OSR crop protection products that would be used at this timing. However, we always advise checking the latest compatibility information on our website before application.
“The key message is do not delay nutrition applications until the crop is struggling. Once we get later into autumn soil temperatures reduce, day light hours reduce which slows growth. Therefore, set the crop up for success with the correct nutrition from the start. Afterall, a bigger crop coming out of winter will likely need less nitrogen depending on green area index measures ahead of spring applications. ”
Phil Burrell, Head Of Agronomy
