This Blog Post was taken from the latest issue of Crop Protection Magazine, where Goldcrop’s John Dunne was interviewed. Read the article in full here.

OSR hasn’t always been the break crop of choice in Ireland, but it’s gained popularity as a replacement for sugar beet since 2006, says John Dunne farmer and variety manager for seed-supplier, Goldcrop.

“Growers quickly realised how good a break crop it is and subsequently the OSR acreage has increased and is expected to be 19,000ha this year,” he explains.

One reason for the increasing area has been better yields, says John. “We’ve seen a 30% increase over the past six years. Whereas growers would previously have achieved 4-4.5t/ha, they’re now regularly getting 5-5.5t/ha – so it’s a big increase.”

But getting the crop sown in time can be a challenge, he says. “Planting OSR behind winter barley is fine, but trying to get it in after winter wheat or spring barley can be tricky. In 2006, growers started out with conventional varieties but they’ve moved towards hybrids over time. We have to be careful that varieties aren’t too vigorous, but we’d rather be looking at the crop than looking for it.”

Having traits such as TuYV resistance in varieties is really important to Irish farmers because the climate is quite mild and the disease can take up to a third of OSR yield, according to John. “When we get a frost, it’s a notable topic of conversation here. And because it’s so mild, we’ve had issues with barley yellow dwarf virus, and this made me wonder if TuYV was also nipping at OSR yields.”

Working with Limagrain, Goldcrop took samples of varieties without TuYV resistance and found the virus to be consistently showing up. “Once you get your eye in for identifying the virus symptoms, you’ll see a reddening of leaves at the edges of the field and along tramlines. Last year we saw headline varieties without resistance falter in our official trials, whereas resistant varieties took this risk out of the equation.”

According to John, Irish growers have also had more trouble with LLS than with phoma and so really value highly resistant varieties. “LLS has always been the tougher beast, to my mind, and in some years the circumstances play into it with higher pressures, especially when there are nearby OSR stubbles. As the disease cycles so frequently and repeatedly, it can be hard to control and is the most damaging disease we have, so having genetic resistance is a huge help.”

He also feels that pod shatter resistance has to be standard in all varieties. “Our climate is tricky, so to have something that won’t shed is a big safety net. I can’t really believe that varieties still come to market without it.”

Irish farmers have become very fond of growing OSR, adds John. “It’s an essential part of the rotation for many, so having stacked traits to secure its future place here is important.”

Article by John Dunne, Goldcrop Ltd.