Oil Seed Rape

Has anyone else noticed ‘yellow spread’ across the English countryside? According to this piece, farmers are growing 10% more rapeseed this summer, making approximately £100 an acre profit. While it used to be grown as a ‘break crop’ to suppress weeds, improve soil quality and was only fit for animal feed, oilseed rape is now used in cooking and stocked on supermarket shelves. There have also been unprecedented demands from consumers in China and India. But Allergy UK is concerned that hay fever sufferers may be reacting to the chemicals that are released from the crops: the amount of insecticides used is up 26% and herbicides up 78%. What do you think about the rapeseed revolution? Hinterland readers may also be interested in the NFU’s new campaign ‘Farming Delivers for Britain’ which was launched earlier this month and has a simple message: ‘be proud to buy British food and remember farming’s immensely powerful role in securing the nation’s future’.