Out of this world yields for Astrid

Throwing their hats into the ring for the highest yielding commercial oilseed rape crop to be grown this year are Suffolk farmers Eddie and Stuart Baker who have achieved an astounding 2.6 t/acre (6.33 t/ha) of the conventional rape variety Es Astrid.

"This result was exceptional and we could hardly believe it, so we checked the weighbridge and indeed it was yielding 2.6 t/acre (6.33 t/ha). We grew four fields of Es Astrid this year and all yielded well over 2 t/acre (around 5 t/ha). To put this into perspective, we have only once exceeded the 2 t/acre yield barrier two years ago, but all our Astrid did so this year. But this one 13 hectare field on a medium loam was a cracking field of rape and we were really delighted with its amazing performance and its ease of management too."

Stuart comments that the Es Astrid was easy to harvest. "The beauty of Astrid is that it is a low biomass variety that is a high performer yet a dream to combine. The Vision that we grew this year was over a foot taller than the Astrid and took much longer to combine and, of course, has left much more straw to deal with."

Mr. Baker is a believer of high input; high outputs and his outstanding Astrid has reinforced this approach. "We normally grow rape in a 1 in 5 rotation. Astrid went in behind winter barley into a well worked seedbed using a Sumo trio ahead of the tine drill and rollers. It grew vigorously in the autumn, out growing the pigeons, and looked good in the spring. The bush telegraph has got around locally of this variety’s success on our farm and we are very pleased with its performance. As a variety Astrid really suits the farm well."

Neil Groom, Technical Director for Grainseed points out that Astrid continues to perform year after year and many growers are sticking with it as it is tried and tested over many differing seasons and conditions.