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Where’s all the osr , gone


Paul5tag
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Been out today in Northumberland,had a scout about fields which I used to shoot  approximately 2 to 4 thousand acre. Not only where they missing pigeon they were also missing osr , there were two fields about 40 acre in total.Have the farmers give up on it or is it because of the wet weather we’ve had. What’s the story we’re you are.

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OSR was a disaster on my permission last year, the excuse given was the ban on Neonicotinoid insecticide which has allowed Flea Beetle to reach epidemic proportions. They don't plan to plant any more in the near future. Neonics are bad for bees so the (Neonics :P) have to go.

Edited by martinj
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Yes I Agree those Bees are bad news!!  Only joking Its a fair point, but what will be the go to crop for the winter woody now, How does anyone see it affecting the pigeon populations,Judging from my outing this morning ,a round trip of 120 mile I saw about half a dozen,it looks like badly.

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Autumn `19 won`t be a fair indicator of anything in the North.Crop drilling etc was so disrupted by the atrocious weather from Sept onwards ,everything is not as planned crop wise! I know of plenty of rape crops that were never drilled along with everything else.Pigeons have had a huge choice of food sources and seem to be generally scattered about,only pulling into numbers with the handful of frosts in December and then ,from what I observed ,they hit the better established rape crops

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One farmer I shoot for is growing more rape than ever, this winter. On the other hand, a couple have said they won't grow any more unless things change with the use of certain chemicals.

Pigeons will nor go hungry over Winter. There is still enough rape around for them, plus many other alternatives.

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Plenty of rape still being grown around here, although more crops than ever grown for biofuel i.e. Triticale, already doing well and maize to be drilled later.

First time last year shooting on triticale stubble (cut in June) offered some really good shooting. The maize the previous year was knocked down by strong winds and many cobs lay on the ground so pigeon activity and shooting continued right through to the growth of the following wheat crop.

OB

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21 hours ago, martinj said:

OSR was a disaster on my permission last year, the excuse given was the ban on Neonicotinoid insecticide which has allowed Flea Beetle to reach epidemic proportions. They don't plan to plant any more in the near future. Neonics are bad for bees so the (Neonics ) have to go.

My bee-keeping friend says these chemicals are NOT a danger to bees, just some EU scientist thought there COULD be a possible risk. A bit like those signs in petrol stations about turning off your mobile phone. Has anyone ever seen a spark from a phone?? How many 100 times has the car bitten you with a big spark when getting out on a hot dry day, due to static from the velour  fabric on the seats? I expect you chaps have heated leather, so no problem!!

Cheers,

Kitchrat

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i rubbed my hands finding two farms had a single field of rape but one field is the usual two bangs and gone and not a bird on the other one as of yesterday but on another farm they have gone mad for the seeds from the buckwheat sown as cover for the rape so i’m getting a few of that so not all bad think they have to much food for the rape seen them on ivy berries maize wheat stubbles yesterday 

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My farming friend has lost significant areas of OSR due to flea beetle so he will no longer plant that crop. He says problems will increase as a number of pesticides are being withdrawn from use.

A similar situation exists to that described by  Ultrastu. My friend farms five large areas just north of Bristol and cannot get on to three of them because of waterlogged land. Nothing planted. Other than a couple of days crow bashing I haven't been pigeon shooting since September. :-( 

 

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The farm that Clodhopper and Jacko and I were on yesterday extends to 700 acres and every field is covered in well established rape. The same farming company has other well established rape but also some failed fields which will be drilled with various cereals in the spring.

Long term the farming community and our political leaders will either have to lobby for the return of neonicotinoid dressings or face losing rape as a viable crop in some areas.

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1 hour ago, JDog said:

The farm that Clodhopper and Jacko and I were on yesterday extends to 700 acres and every field is covered in well established rape. The same farming company has other well established rape but also some failed fields which will be drilled with various cereals in the spring.

Long term the farming community and our political leaders will either have to lobby for the return of neonicotinoid dressings or face losing rape as a viable crop in some areas.

difficult question...........

allow the re-introduction of neonicotinoid dressings....or allow the use of genetically modified seed.............both at the moment a no no.....:hmm:

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The estate I shoot drilled rape in October/November and had ploughed most of it in by Christmas as the crop had failed, I still do have a lot of rape to cover and some is doing very well and getting a lot of attention from the pigeons, but some areas have gone brown and died right back, not like frost damage but more like sprayed with weedkiller, with not a single plant surviving in the brown patches,  at least it is concentrating the birds into much smaller areas but not good for farm profits.

At least things should change once we get rid of the EU control / interference and we can get back to doing things our way!!

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