The past few years have seen a huge change in our winter arable cropping. Winter oilseed rape, since its introduction in the 1960s, was the go-to crop alongside winter wheat for decades, but that has all changed. Historically, winter oilseed rape was an expensive crop to establish, and with the banning of neonicotinoids to control flea beetles, the cost of fertiliser, wet weather, desiccating issues and a general swing in the direction of pro-wildlife and habitat enrichment on estates and farms, it is rapidly becoming a crop of the past.
Financially, I completely understand the arable farmers’ point of view. If they are going to make more money by entering into various Government schemes and diversifying their cropping plans, why would they want to struggle trying to establish a crop for no return? With their crops either being drowned by wet weather,
