HGCA has revised downwards the losses estimated to be caused by cabbage stem flea beetle.

Having claimed earlier this week that its 'snapshot assessment' suggested cabbage stem flea beetle damage had contributed to losses of around 3.2 percent in winter-sown oilseed rape, HGCA announced on Wednesday that "New county-level information has become available to the ADAS network responsible for conducting the 'snapshot assessment' [which] has allowed the initial estimates to be revised slightly."

The revised estimates show losses of 2.7%. Losses have been higher in the South-East, figures show.

Steve Ellis, from ADAS' Malton site in North Yorkshire, helped produce the data for HGCA. He said figures showed "Regional variation, with the level of damage high in some areas, but no different from usual in others."

"There is limited damage up here in North Yorkshire, but in areas such as Hertfordshire and other parts of the south east we've seen more of an impact. Crops may have been at a more susceptible stage when the beetles started to migrate."

More information is available from HGCA here. The levy board insists that there is no change to its advice. The original story can be viewed here.

The beetles' impact has been highlighted by farm groups lobbying against recent bans on three neonicotinoid pesticides, which came into effect in December.

Commenting on the emergency authorisation of Insyst, which was granted by the government following pressure from the NFU, the union's vice president Guy Smith said, "For many farmers currently trying to combat the flea beetle menace, this approval will give them a new vital tool in their tool box when it comes to establishing good crops of oilseed rape.

"But for those who have already seen their crops significantly compromised by flea beetle, the response is bound to be, 'if only we had had these products sooner.'"