Achieving 4.6t OSR Yield in a High-Pressure CSFB NVZ - E.W. Spink

Key Factors 

• Monitoring costs and applications throughout the season  

• Variable rates and liquid N 

• Machinery to suit the methods 

We travelled to E.W. Spink & Son in Suffolk to speak with Lawrence Spink & James Spink, plus their Frontier agronomist Ryan Baker, about their dual Best in Field Awards for Oilseed Rape and Fastest Harvest Turnaround, 2024.  

The farm is roughly 140ha rotating OSR, milling wheat, winter barley and spring barley (on a malting contract with Frontier) and Ryan has been their agronomist for 9 years. Duties are split between Lawrence who handles cultivations and maintenance, and James who handles spraying, fertiliser and combining.  

Their Analytics Platform has OSR data stretching back to 2017 (with a gap in 2023). For harvest 2024, they achieved an outstanding yield of 4.6t in a high Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle area. Here’s what the team had to say about their operation and awards...  

This conversation is also available as a podcast - Listen Here.

Let’s start with a ‘why’ – Why do you continue to value OSR in your rotation?  

James: On a gross margin perspective, there’s nothing that can compete with it (when it goes well!) 

It’s high risk but high reward. You must iron the risks out – that’s why we go with a conventional variety. We get a little bit of seed new each year, but the rest is home saved and dressed, to keep seed costs and risk of failure to a minimum 

Lawrence: When OSR goes wrong, we tend to look at beans. But using our Analytics Platform to look at the margins of beans, we get a bit miserable! We keep beans as a back-up break crop and favour OSR for the margins.  

You won Best in Field 2024 Oilseed Rape with a fantastic variable cost of production of £112.76/t. As you’ve grown OSR historically since 2017, how did the 2018 neonic ban affect you?  

James: It was a steep learning curve! We tried other methods for controlling the cabbage stem flea beetle, but it didn’t feel environmentally friendly, and we ended up taking it on the chin. If pests become a problem, then they’re a problem.  

Lawrence: We had fewer crop failures before the ban and have adjusted our approach. Now, if it’s too dry we don’t even bother taking the seeds out of the bag, whereas before we’d be more likely to gamble. Which is why we skipped OSR in 2023.  

Ryan: It’s fair to say that neonics took the risk out of sowing OSR in the autumn. We shifted focus post-ban from that chemical option to more cultural controls, such as only drilling when there’s certain rain in the forecast.  

This year, SFI’s have given us the option to experiment with some companion cropping (berseem clover, buckwheat and fenugreek mix).  

We’ve tried with hybrids in the past, but we stick with conventional varieties for the chance to home-save the seed. Flamingo has been in the system for several years primarily for its vigour, meaning it can grow away from the flea beetle.  

This year we’re experimenting with the variety Tom to see how it compares to Flamingo, and we’re interested to see what we decide to sow in 2025.  

You mention home-saving seed, but you didn’t grow OSR in 2023... Did you save the seed for this award-winning crop from 2022? 

James: Yes, and we got away with it. We germ tested and aimed at a conventional seed rate, using variable rates with SOYL – which helps all of our crops. It gets the plant population right and we variable rate fertiliser too.  

Oilseed Rape is basically the sheep of the arable world, it’s hard to keep alive! But obviously we got it right in 2024. 

One stand-out difference between 2022 and 2024 was fertiliser. Your spend decreased to around £213/ha (roughly a 50% reduction). Was this down to prices or techniques? 

James: I think we can blame Mr Putin for that as our rates haven’t changed much. When the fertiliser went sky-high, we still needed it. We had to buy. And this shows the impact that raw material prices have on your operation. There’s only so much you can cut back.  

Ryan: Our strategy involves creating an adaptable regime. We know what N rates we’re aiming for, but we’ll adjust our inputs upon assessing crop health, and push in areas which show the greatest sign of returning investment.  

Lawrence: I’ll add that we only use liquid nitrogen, which helps the OSR absorb as quickly as possible, without having to wait for rain. Which is especially useful in springtime.  

James: We do also use broiler litter on the farm, although the OSR doesn’t receive it directly, the OSR follows a barley crop which has had broiler litter applied. We like spring barley because of the margins, and as barley is early to harvest it helps the OSR drilling. OSR forms the tail of the rotation.  

Ryan: A good percentage of the farm receiving broiler is bringing huge benefits to the rotation. The indices are building, and the trace elements the muck introduces are invaluable and last the whole rotation. Especially sulphur which is important for OSR.  

Very targeted. Are you in an NVZ here in this part of Suffolk? 

James: Yes, so we certainly apply everything at the correct rates. We’re mostly on heavy soil here, too.  

Lawrence: Although the old airfield on our land meant a lot of good soil was concreted over back in time, the field which yielded 4.6t for this award-winning OSR is certainly our best field. No matter which crop, it outperforms the other fields. Interestingly – it’s always been the closest field to the old farmyard, so there’s probably centuries of manure in there! 

Sticking with inputs – Herbicide in 2024 was increased, some robust use of broadleaf controls. Designed to keep the crop from competing?  

James: Yes, mostly robust in the autumn. When following barley, that must be removed so it doesn’t smother the OSR. Then one big plus of growing OSR is the ability to come in and control the blackgrass during the season.  

We’ve also been applying urease inhibitors for the past few seasons. We make sure to have a high sulphur rate in every pass to keep the OSR topped up. Rape is hungry but lazy, you must put the nutrients on a plate.  

Do you have a favourite piece of kit that’s helping with your Oilseed Rape?  

Lawrence: We wouldn’t be able to succeed without our Grange Toolbar. Moisture is always the biggest challenge, but the Grange on the front of the drill enables us to go straight into stubble – and then we just roll it in.  

James: Purchasing the Grange and a good second-hand CAT Challenger in 2017 was a game-changer. We still suffer moisture loss, but we can keep it to a minimum now and it’s a one-man job. We’ve also bought a second-hand stubble rake to disperse any laid barley (we used to grow hybrid barley, which was great, but didn’t always stay standing.)  

Ryan: Although it always comes down to the weather, moving the straw definitely helped with the slug burden, and the Grange agronomically helps because the crop is on wide rows and the Vaderstad coulters run behind the legs of the Grange, which pulls moisture through, and helps with rooting and germination.  

Lawrence: We block off every other row in our drill when sowing OSR. Seed depth is also important. Just a few millimetres too deep can have consequences, which we learned one year. We calibrate the drill carefully.  

From hardware to software – which part of your Analytics Platform are you finding most useful? 

James: It’s exceptionally nice that our gross margins are calculated and presented automatically, and it’s useful to benchmark our prices for inputs.  

Lawrence: Benchmarking prices is very reassuring to us, and benchmarking performance too.  

Ryan: I’d say comparing field-by-field performance is key, and I like to see that my growers are getting value out of my advice and products. 

Have you had to take any measures to deal with the high rainfall of recent years? 

Lawrence: Last year (2024) was diabolically wet, so we had to be patient and wait for the heavy ground to dry up. But by the time we were drilling, once we picked the right day, conditions were good. Better that than waiting for rain to come.  

As we come to the end of this conversation, would you like to share any other opinions or thoughts on the industry? It’s a noisy time in Ag at the moment... 

James: Well, it seems bleak in truth. I’m not sure why youngsters would get into the industry, especially if they’re hoping to inherit! Seems like those at the top are all-too-happy to rely on imports.  

Lawrence: One positive I’d offer is unity. Us farmers are a funny bunch. But rather than competing we should be standing together. The silver lining from all this noise is seeing the industry and farmers coming together, unified.  

Thanks for sharing those views. Is there anything else you’d like to say? 

James: Thank you for the awards. The Fastest Harvest Turnaround award is certainly easier to achieve than the OSR award. But the quicker we can get our info to you, the quicker we can see our gross margins, which helps with making decisions in the tight window going into the autumn.  

Lawrence: And we need those numbers to be informed on our sales... Thanks for the awards and for the visit.  

Congratulations to the team at E.W. Spink for winning dual Best in Field Awards for Oilseed Rape and Fastest Harvest Turnaround, 2024. We wish you every success with the upcoming season.