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There are good reasons to introduce home-grown nutrients into your nutrition plan. For one, if enough nutrient can be grown and captured, there is potential to increase business margins. However, the two benefits of most interest are: the degree of protection it can offer from a volatile fertiliser market and the potential to reduce carbon emissions on farm through a reduction in applied fertiliser.

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Following my blog about early grassweed control in August, at this time of year we're now moving towards the final application which is aimed at 'finishing off' the job by using propyzamide.

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In August, I wrote a blog about how to control grassweeds in oilseed rape ahead of establishing the crop. Now that we're further into the season with crops in the ground, it's a good time to revisit your weed control strategy and determine what actions are needed. In this blog I'll discuss the benefits and considerations around companion crops and how they fit into weed control.

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Oilseed rape weed management has evolved over the last 10 years, mainly due to the challenge of establishing the crop with certainty and the introduction of more effective post-emergence broad-leaved weed herbicides. Before this development in chemistry there was a lack of flexibility - crops had to be treated early and all that was left was to hope for the best.

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Oilseed rape crops have been through a tough time due to the threat posed by cabbage stem flea beetle. In addition, the crop has also faced some very challenging establishment periods. In response growers have adapted how they establish oilseed rape and many have now resorted to drilling the crop throughout a bigger window than what has been done in the past. There's now also a greater emphasis on drilling crops when the conditions are right, rather than just going by calendar date.

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The economics of growing oilseed rape have fundamentally changed over the last few years. Throughout this period, we have seen its value move from approximately £320/t in harvest 2020, to £440/t in 2021, to the heights of 2022 of £900/t. Currently, this has come back to £550/t for harvest. The crop has never been so valuable.

Harvest is just around the corner for oilseed rape and there are some final but important tasks required now that the crop has reached this point in its life cycle. Across the country, many oilseed rape crops have been looking well but this means that careful consideration is required when planning desiccation and necessary steps should be taken to safeguard crop potential.

With maize establishing well across the country now, attention is turning to the management of the crop during the crucial early stages.

The crop itself originated in sub-tropical regions, so it is a plant which loves conditions that tend to be warmer than the average UK spring. As a result, it is not uncommon for maize to show nutrient deficiencies, or for its growth to slow if temperatures are relatively cool.