The potential for conservation headlands in linseed.

Abstract

Experiments were carried out in headlands of linseed to assess the potential for Conservation Headlands.
The abundance of broad-leaved weeds was significantly greater in the unsprayed areas. There was no relationship between weeds and the eventual yield of linseed, nor were moisture content and thousand seed weight affected. Contamination by weed seeds was small even in plots not treated with herbicide. There was no significant difference between the yield of the sprayed and unsprayed plots in the headlands. The yield from the sprayed headlands was 37% less than the rest of the crop. At one site, there was a negative relationship between seedhead density of the main grass species Alopecurus myosuroides and yield of linseed.
Conservation headlands are only currently practised in cereals, however it was concluded from this trial that this regime could be extended to linseed without causing reduced profitability or interfering unduly with farming operations.