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"The situation this year is a complete turnaround from what farmers faced in 2012 when root growth was not there, crops were poor and yields were down," says Clare Tucker, Agronomy Manager, BASF. "This year we are predicting that crops that established quickly are likely to be well advanced and reach the 4-6 leaves during October, if not before.

"What we need to ensure, in such good growing conditions, is that the crop, which may look healthy, doesn’t runaway with itself and grow too tall. As you cannot change growth once it has happened it is important to balance the top growth and ensure that there is good root growth early on which will help the plant through the winter," she says. "What we are aiming to achieve is 8:8:8. That means 8 true leaves growing close to the ground, a root collar of 8mm in diameter and root depth of at least 8cms."

In order to get the right growth balance,  crops will respond well to a 0.4-0.5 litre per hectare application of Sunorg® Pro, containing metconazole, applied at the 4-6 leaf stage of the crop, as long as this growth stage is reached before the end of October. The benefits of doing this are threefold:

•      First it will keep the stem base short and thick, reducing the risk of lodging and minimising the likelihood of direct stem infection by Phoma. The growing point remains low to the ground, protected from frosts and pigeon damage.

•      Second it will help produce a large root collar diameter to resist damage from cold, wet soils overwinter and provide reserves for good crop development in the spring.

•       Finally, underground, it will increase root mass and length. Good roots are important since water uptake can be a limiting factor to yield during seed fill in the early summer.

Phoma is predicted to come in late this autumn and so will probably be at low levels during October.  However Sunorg Pro will provide effective protection and the crop can be monitored for disease 4 weeks later. And although light leaf spot is not likely to show infection on the plant until slightly later in the year, an October application will still give protection against early infections. By getting your oilseed rape crop off to a good start, once spring arrives, the crop growth will be much more uniform and spring inputs and yield will be optimised."