Earlier this season, AgriLand heard from Glanbia about high erucic acid rape (HEAR), and with the majority of crops now cut it’s time to find out how they performed.
The crop of oilseed rape, which is grown for its end use in industry, is mainly used in the manufacturing of lubricants and offers growers a premium price.
This week, Jayne Smyth – an agronomist with the company – filled us in on how crops yielded. Approximately 500ac of the crop were planted for Glanbia Ireland last autumn.
“We are very happy with the performance of the HEAR in what has been a very good year in general for oilseed rape,” Jayne commented.
Our top performing crop yielded 2.1t/ac at 9% moisture.
“This crop was harvested on Saturday, August 8, in what was an exceptional day, allowing moisture contents to fall.”
Ivan Curran was harvesting his crop of HEAR on Broadleas Farm on Wednesday of this week. Image source: Jayne Smyth, Glanbia Ireland
On the lower end of the yield scale, crops were at 1.8t/ac – a good yield in 2020 conditions.
The crop is managed in the same way as any other crop of winter oilseed rape.
“From an agronomy point of view the crops are treated the exact same way as the ’00’ varieties,” she explained.
Glanbia growers planted Ergo for the 2020 season, which is a hybrid variety, and the company is recommending a seed rate of 50 seed/m², along with a standard pre-emergence spray to kick off the season.
Also Read: Did you ‘HEAR’ about this oilseed rape crop?Price
Jayne explained how the pricing system works. The contract price of the HEAR crop is linked to the MATIF oilseed rape price index.
“The base price for HEAR green oilseed rape will be €5/t over the MATIF November dried price – essentially the grower is receiving a dried price for green oilseed rape with the option to forward sell at any stage throughout the year.”
If the November 2021 MATIF rapeseed price today is €366/t, the Glanbia Ireland HEAR price to members is a potential €381/t for green rape delivered at 9% moisture content, which is made up as follows:
- €366/t – MATIF Price;
- Plus €5/t – HEAR Premium;
- Plus potential co-op trading bonus of €10/t.
She encouraged anyone interested in growing a crop of HEAR to contact their local Glanbia Ireland agronomist, while noting the many benefits of having oilseed rape in a crop rotation including: spreading workload; alternatives for grass weed control; and benefits to the soil.