Anne Kilstrand is CEO of Sweden’s seed and plant growers standing in a sparse rapeseed field outside Arlöv.
– Yes, unfortunately this is how it looks in many places in Skåne this year. We have a misgrowth in the rapeseed that we are not at all used to. It has been beaten so now it is late to bloom, but it is also a considerably worse stock than we are used to, says Anneli Kihlstrand.
Lessons learned for next year
Autumn rape was sown in August and grew very well. Too good it turns out now. When there was a cold snap with down to minus 15 degrees in December, the plants were large but sensitive to the cold and many died. Now it is time to learn lessons.
– Before the sowing now in August, we will say: don’t sow too early and we may have to give a little less plant nutrition so we don’t have such a high speed on the rapeseed. We also have to think about growth regulation, which means that the plant invests more in the root system than in the one above ground, says Anneli Kihlstrand.
“Tough break”
About 20 percent of Scania’s rapeseed fields were plowed up this spring and the farmers have grown spring grain instead of the profitable rapeseed. Last year, up to ten kroner per kilo was paid for canola. Now the price is about half that but it is still historically very well paid.
– Financially, it is a tough break. Partly you get rid of a very profitable crop in autumn rapeseed and partly you have to bear the re-sowing cost of establishing a new crop, so it’s quite tough, says Anneli Kihlstrand.
Rapeseed is used, among other things, for cooking oil, biodiesel and as a protein raw material for animal feed.