Farm Diversification

HOLL oil is of interest to both the biodiesel industry and also to the food industry. 

Higher levels of oleic acid in the oil are considered to give benefits to use of oil as biodiesel. 

Reduction of linolenic acid, a polyunsaturated oil, produces an oil which is more stable for food use, particularly for frying, allowing longer usage periods and therefore economic advantages. 

The generic term Vistive has been adopted for oil from HOLL rapeseed and links with MacDonalds have been made to develop the market.

The first HOLL varieties have now completed official testing and it is proposed that they will be included on the UK and North UK Oilseeds lists in 2009 for the first time.  This will allow direct comparison to be made with conventional varieties.  It is likely that 2 varieties will be available.  These are Splendor, which is the more widely tested HOLL variety in UK conditions and V1410L.

Splendor is relatively low yielding, with approximately a 10 – 15% yield penalty compared to the top conventional varieties.  It is fairly short with good light leaf spot resistance.  V1410L is higher yielding than Splendor, with a reduced yield penalty of approximately 9% compared to conventional double low types.  It is taller and stiffer strawed than Splendor with good light leaf spot resistance.   

Weeds such as wild mustard and shepherd’s purse contain high levels of linolenic acid in their seed and high levels of these weeds in fields of HOLL should be avoided. 

Traceability is an important element of the contract to ensure good quality HOLL oil.

Contracts for V1410L offer a premium of £50/t over double low varieties.  This will compensate for the lower yields achieved. 

Availability of contracts is currently restricted to growers in England, as a minimum consignment size is needed for efficiency of transport for processing.   Depending on progress with developing the market for this type of oil, and sufficient interest from growers there may be scope for production in Scotland in the future.

Like HEAR varieties, current practice is to process HOLL varieties centrally.  All seed is taken to Harlow and then to Germany for processing. 

With contracts which are closely linked to specialist market outlets, there seems little scope to develop small scale farm based processing for this variety type.