The mild weather we have been experiencing recently has been an absolute saviour for our later-drilled oilseed rape as it has allowed it to keep growing.

Our rapeseed is a tale of two halves, with the early-drilled area looking a bit too far forward, with upward of eight true leaves – compared with the later-drilled (20 September) area only just reaching four true leaves.

Should the colder weather come now, the battle will commence with our feathered friends to keep them off the crops that have not yet got a complete canopy.

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For those of you who remember my previous articles, we carried out an on-farm trial last year in the same field, comparing direct drilled oilseed rape against our current establishment technique.

The two crops were managed as one and throughout the growing season the direct drilled established crop was showing some real visual benefits, with better rooting, a higher green index and greater evenness at flowering.

When it came to harvest, the field was cut in two halves and the crops put over the weighbridge. The result was that our current establishment technique yielded 0.5t/ha more than the direct drilled area, providing a grossed £100/ha extra on our net margin.

Now, don’t get me wrong: this was not a scientific experiment and no robust conclusions can be drawn from one year’s information. But to be able to adopt direct drilling, I need a sound reasoning to justify forgoing a reduction in overall margin.

We have repeated the trial again this year, and I still believe the long-term benefits in improved soil health would outweigh this initial reduction in margin.

Elsewhere on the farm, all the winter cereals have established well. Slugs have been present in wheat after oilseed rape but they are not a menace.

We are now settling down into the winter routine, with all the kit cleaned off and put away for another year.

Jack Hopkins is the assistant farm manager on a 730ha estate in North Herefordshire on predominantly silty clay loam soils. Cropping includes wheat, barley, oilseed rape, spring oats and peas, plus grassland that supports a flock of 1,000 ewes and 25 pedigree Hereford cattle