Midlands’ fields of gold

Drive down a country lane in the West Midlands and you can’t fail to miss the vibrant yellow blur of the oilseed rape fields.

In the 1970s, oilseed rape was barely known in Britain, but now acres of land are carpeted with the plant which has hit the big time as a bio fuel.

But farm manager Andrew Blenkiron, based at Chillington Farm in South Staffordshire, says one of the reasons for the sudden appearance of oilseed in the West Midlands is because of the closure in February of Alscott Sugar Beet factory near Telford.

“With crop rotation, every four years you have to use a ‘break crop’ which improves the soil and gets rid of diseases and weeds,” says Andrew.

“Sugar beet was mainly used as a break crop until farmers were told about the closure of Alscott Sugar Beet factory.

“The next nearest sugar beet factory is in Newark, and it would be uneconomical to transport goods over there.

“Another good break crop is oilseed rape and that has now been adopted by farmers in the West Midlands, who usually have a quarter of their land each year filled with a break crop.”

Rape is now our third largest arable crop.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) says that in the past year alone production has gone up by 17 per cent.

Next year, it is tipped to top two million tonnes.

Andrew says: “Recently people have realised that oilseed rape has creative properties and I know people who are selling it as a vegetable oil.

“Its principal use is as a vegetable oil but recently there has been a lot of excitement about its use as a bio diesel.

“There are also uses for the by-product, known as cake or meal, which can be used to feed animals when mixed with other foods.”

It can also be used to make margarine, candles, soaps, plastics, polymers and lubricants.

Currently, most of the UK’s production is snapped up by Germany and used for bio-diesel.

But another new use for the crop is ‘extra virgin rapeseed oil’, currently being touted as Britain’s answer to extra virgin olive oil.

“The oilseed rape meal can also be used to create heat and electricity and even the straw used on the fields has a high calorific value,” says Andrew, aged 42. “People say that the oilseed rape has ‘sprung up’ in the last few years but it has been part of the English countryside for over 30 years, although DEFRA say production is going up 12 per cent year on year.

“We plant the seeds at the end of August but it is in March and April when it starts to become noticeable – and it appears so quickly you can almost see it growing.

“It grows at a rate of around one meter in two weeks, so every time you go past the fields they look different.

“Oilseed rape can also be planted in April so it flowers in June and then it grows even faster.” When the rape is harvested the black Canola seeds are collected and sent to be crushed into oil at ports around the country such as Liverpool and Immingham.

Andrew says: “Each flower will produce a seed pod, which is similar to a pea pod but around one fifth of the size.

“The seeds inside look like ball-bearings, but are oily and around a tenth the size of a pea.

“We have to make sure that vehicles used to transport the seeds are water-tight because they are so small they can escape easily.

“After planting the crops, the seeds are so attractive to pigeons that over the winter they can obliterate the plants.

“Birds grazing is not bad for the crops because it stops a build up of plants and can combat disease, however we make sure the pigeons are stopped in January.

“The plant is relatively easy to grow and the government has said that by 2010 five per cent of all motor fuel must come from renewable sources.

“Oilseed rape also seizes a lot of carbon dioxide while it is being grown.

“Not only that but it looks very attractive and adds some vibrant colour to the English countryside.”