Oilseed rape may increase in price as farmers are urged to reduce the use of herbicides in their farming processes.
Agricultural research consultant Sarah Cook told Farmers Weekly that unacceptable levels of herbicide are already being detected in British waterways.
Ms Cook is now encouraging farmers to use fewer chemicals and instead explore other ways of keeping weeds out of their crop, such as drilling stale seed beds and using mechanical weeding devices.
"Early passes in the direction of drilling are most effective and later passes are more damaging to the crop, so as the crop gets bigger, the damage increases," she told the publication.
However, such moves could cause fluctuations in the price of oilseed rape, as farming becomes more labour-intensive and production levels may be reduced.
Oilseed rape is the fourth-largest production crop in the UK, with Britain being about 90 per cent self-sufficient in its use of rape oil.
Typical Guttridge equipment used in the farming industry includes: elevators – bucket elevators – valves
