Farm Diversification

Borage oil is marketed as Starflower oil, with reference to the appearance of its flower, in the form of a health supplement or in skin care creams and cosmetics.

Markets have been disrupted by the import of cheaper borage from China.  Despite lower quality of these imports they have taken up some of the market required. 

Borage is spring sown, conventionally at a comparatively low plant population of 25 – 30 plants/m2. 

Inputs are generally low with up to 75 kg N/ha and maintenance levels of P and K.  Like many specialist crops grown on a small scale, few herbicides are approved.  Therefore stale seedbed techniques can offer a useful means of weed control.  Few pest or disease problems have been noted, therefore agrochemical inputs are generally low. 

As the crop matures, Borage has a tenancy to shed seed and a pre-harvest treatment is required to even maturity and to minimise shedding.  As the crop is sown at a low plant density, and produces relatively few branches, it can be difficult to achieve a suitably robust stubble platform to support the swath. 

The crop should be combined with care, using a conventional combine harvester, to avoid seed loss.     

More favourable oil profiles are produced in cooler Northern latitudes, however its cultivation north of mid Scotland is limited because of late harvests.  Average yield is low at 0.4 t seed/ha. 

The oil value of borage is high at £2,000/t, giving some compensation for the low yield. 

Contracts for borage have been offered for southern Scotland, and the crop has been grown commercially here.  Currently production is limited to England, being closer to the sites of processing. 

The residue from oilseed rape processing, the meal, has a high protein content and is a useful animal feed. 

As for the specialist oilseed rape types, contracts for borage production are based on the seed being removed from the farm and processing to take place centrally. 

It may be technically feasible to press borage seeds with a small scale cold press, however it should be recognised that cold presses are less efficient at extraction of oil than conventional large scale solvent extraction methods.  Cold pressing will result in a lower oil yield, and since the oil is of very high value, this would seem to be a major disadvantage for small scale processing. 

 Borage seed contains anti-nutritive alkaloids which will remain in the meal and will limit its use as a feed.