Establish the best crop possible

#OSRReboot

Top 10 cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) management strategies for oilseed rape (Draft v2)

2. Establish the best crop possible

Always wait for moisture.
Your seed bed is critical and attention to detail will give your crop the best start to life
Choose a variety that suits the sowing date (for example good autumn vigour for mid- and late-drilled crops, and good early spring growth to limit larval damage) – also see Further Information
Use quality seed, it is critically important, irrespective of source. Poor seed (just taken from the heap, over-yeared without a fresh germination result etc) can result in poor establishment speed making the crop more vulnerable.
Ensure good seed-to-soil contact, through cultivation selection, and rolling. Roll and where possible roll again at 90 degrees to the drill, to create a more better surface and help conserve moisture. Take care to avoid any capping.
Consider adding nutrition to promote good growth and reduce plant stress. NPK other major / minor elements in accordance with crop need / soil testing. Ensure you are using fertilisers responsibly and effectively.
Leave the previous cereal crop’s stubble/straw (which can make it harder for CSFB to locate OSR).
Screen any farm-saved seed for larger seed (1.8–2.2mm) – normally see thousand seed weight (TSW) as a proxy BUT it is important that the seed size is not too high.
Slug baiting / monitoring and control, if required, is vital.

Further information

AGRII view on variety choices

Varieties differ significantly in their relative autumn and spring growth, and those differences are pretty consistent between trials and year-on-year.
High autumn biomass is considered useful for challenging autumns, reducing pigeon damage and for building a big crown that is more resilient to CSFB larval attack over winter.
There is good evidence to suggest that high biomass combined with early spring regrowth reduces the severity of CSFB larval symptoms.
There is limited evidence from our 2023 trial to suggest that spring vigour is the best way to mitigate against yield loss when CSFB larval damage is high.

x Link to more information

y Link to an expert

z Link to academic paper