It was an interest in earliness of maturity that led Colin Button, Seed Manager for Hutchinsons, to take a serious look at the new oilseed rape variety Cubic. But he has been particularly pleased that Cubic has matured early, but this has not been to the detriment of high yields or high oil content.

"Many growers are looking for an "early bite" at their rape, particularly those with a large area of rape and busy workloads at harvest. Originally I wanted to establish the principle of early maturity as a viable option for farmers, but without sacrificing yield. So I chose Cubic to fill this role. Ironically many rape varieties have matured early, following the unusual weather conditions this year, but Cubic not only matured early but it also has the advantages of being low biomass and, most importantly, delivering excellent yields and oils,” says Colin.

"In fact the Cubic slightly outperformed DK Cabernet, which is recognised as a high gross output variety, and it equalled its oil content. What was pleasing was that Cubic appeared to have coped with the drought and gave excellent yields in that early maturing slot."

One of Colin's farmers, Ross Thorpe of F. Hartley Estates Ltd, near Wisbech grew Cubic for the first time and has achieved very good yields of 5.4 t/ha plus oil content of 45%. Ross also comments positively on the easiness of harvest of Cubic and intends to grow this variety again this coming year.

Colin Button makes the point that, as a company, Hutchinsons have been supporting the concept of semi-dwarf oilseed rape varieties. "Cubic is not a semi-dwarf but a very good low biomass variety, with all the practical benefits of ease of harvest and management that such a variety brings."

Overall Colin has been impressed with Cubic. "It has proven to be a real success and we will be growing more of it in the future."

Andrew Wade of Agrovista reports that his farmers have been "thrilled to bits" with the high performance of the winter oilseed rape variety Cubic this year. One of the first fields to be harvested in his area during the first week of August, Cubic delivered 5.5 t/ha (2.2 t/acre) and a massive 48% oil.

Advising farmers in Staffordshire, Andrew says that this field of Cubic was always a good looking crop, "very neat and tidy and it was the first to flower, the first to desiccate and the first to harvest."

"Farmers with a large area of combinable crops on their farm need rape varieties such as Cubic that are ready to harvest early and are low biomass. That means that the workload can be spread across a wider window and you can get the crop in fast and well before many other varieties are even ready to combine."

But he points out that you don't want to sacrifice any yield or oil by harvesting early. "Naturally early maturing varieties need to deliver and if you can get such high yields and oils, as we have done with Cubic, you can really benefit from any premiums on offer."

Andrew Wade explains that he manages his rape crops with great attention to detail throughout the year. "Most of the rape is grown on a 1 in 4 rotation and receives all the necessary inputs to maximise its potential. This starts with an effective pre-em herbicide Oryx (metazachlor + quinmerac) and the graminicide Shogun (propaquizafop) to rid the crop early on from damaging weed competition and allow it to get off to a good start. The first week of November it will get a stem canker spray plus trace elements and an insecticide. The high natural resistance rating of 7.1 for Cubic gives us that little more flexibility. In the spring Caramba (metconazole) was used to optimise the canopy and to start off the Sclerotinia programme. We then used Galileo (picoxystrobin) and Compass (iprodione + thiophanate-methyl) to complete the Sclerotinia control. The desiccant was enhanced by the addition of Companion Gold.”

"The programmed use of key inputs at appropriate times together with a high performing variety such as Cubic has certainly delivered a pleasing and profitable outcome,” Andrew concludes.

"Being a direct descendant from Astrid, Cubic can claim its position as the next generation low biomass rape variety. It yields well - in HGCA trials this year Cubic was the highest yielding variety at the Fulbourn, Cambridge site at 4.83 t/ha (107%). It also has an excellent oil content of 45%," says Neil Groom, Technical Director for Grainseed.