KWS are offering a 50:50 oilseed rape risk mitigation scheme in which growers will only pay half of their seed costs if the crop fails to establish in autumn 2020, the company has announced.
The scheme builds on their oilseed establishment partnership (OEP) launched last year and is designed to give producers the confidence to continue growing the crop, says KWS oilseed rape manager Julie Goult.
“It’s a statement of our belief in KWS varieties and also the increasing knowledge building up on how to give oilseed rape crops the best possible start.
“Nobody is negating the very real problems many growers face in parts of the country but equally we know there is a significant number of producers out there that recognise oilseed rape is still the best break crop option they have.
“We want to give these growers as much support as we can and work through the distributor trade to give them access to the most cost-effective genetics and the latest knowledge on crop establishment.”
The partnership will be available nationwide through a network of 12 merchants and seed suppliers with different variety options, she explains.
“Essentially, growers will pay 50% of their oilseed rape seed costs up front and the second half of the payment will be waived if their crop does not establish.
“In effect, we are sharing the risk of growing the crop by going halves with growers in recognition of the challenging issues we all face around the continuing production of oilseed rape in the UK.
“But we have all learned a lot in recent years about management factors such as drilling date, seedbed preparation and soil moisture content and the role they play in getting oilseed rape away safely in the autumn, so there is hope.
“OEP is our way of encouraging people to not lose faith in the crop, keep learning about how to grow it successfully with regard to their own farming situation and share expertise around this.”
Producers signing up for the scheme will also have access to the KWS OEP knowledge network featuring email updates and other advice.
For further information on how the scheme works and distributors taking part, growers are encouraged to visit www.kws-uk.com in the first instance or talk to their own seed suppliers.
