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Organic Root Crops / BrassicasTurnip, Swede, Rape, Kale - break crops for quick, low cost forage |
These short term catch crops are sown in late spring or summer to provide valuable home grown fodder for buffer feeding dairy cows or finishing lambs in autumn or winter when other sources of forage are limited. Some brassicas are fast growing, needing just 10 weeks, other catch crops take a few more weeks but are much more winter hardy and excellent for late winter grazing. All are excellent break crops which reduce grassland weeds and pest attacks.  Stubble turnips are palatable, energy rich and offer dairy farmers the opportunity to fill a feed shortage over the summer. Stubble Turnips can be direct drilled with a Moore Uni Drill (or similar) into a recently silaged sward in May or June. This is particularly successful where glyphosate has been used prior to mowing. There is no loss of soil moisture and there is minimum expenditure involved. A good dose of slurry should be applied shortly after sowing the stubble turnips and by mid August there is usually a very good stubble turnip crop ready to graze. To allow the rumen to adjust, cows should be introduced gradually to the stubble turnips for the first few days. Lamb Finishing Lambs can be successfully fattened on fodder brassicas, gaining around 100 150 grams per day. The addition of a small quantity of hay, barley or concentrates is beneficial. These fodder brassicas, especially when grown on free draining soils, are excellent for late autumn and winter use.  Electric fencing allows the fodder brassica crop to be fed at a controlled rate. A sufficiently long length of fence enables all stock have access to the catch crop. By doing this there is also less wastage through trampling. Ideally, a grass runback should be provide for animals to lie on. Soil Types These break crops will grow on most soil types provided they are well textured and can provide a fine tilth when cultivated. However, it is important to ensure that lighter soils are chosen for winter grazing. Wet clays do not lend themselves to holding stock in wet conditions on brassica crops. Soil Fertility Fodder brassicas will be restricted if either soil moisture or plant nutrients are limited. As a rough guide these crops will require 70 kg N, 40 kg P and 40 kg K per hectare. These nutrients can be applied either in the form of FYM or artificial fertiliser and are not lost but recycled by the grazing animal. Rotation, Rotation, Rotation The importance of crop rotation is well understood. After the decision has been made to break up a ley or pasture many farmers sow a brassica break crop. This is excellent as the brassica crop, not bothered by grass pests or diseases, thrives by collecting nitrate released by the previous grass and goes on to rapidly produce a large grazing crop. Some farmers also apply muck to the crop therefore making it as productive as possible. This in turn feeds and produces more livestock, produces more dung and goes round in a beneficial cycle making the whole rotation more productive. How Many Acres Do I Need? A 3 acre (1.2 ha) crop of stubble turnips or forage rape feeds 100 sheep (complete diet) for one month. For 100 cows, 7 acres (2.8 ha) should provide a quarter of the daily forage DM intake. Kale, hardy turnips and swedes are higher yielding, so the acreage sown can be reduced to 2 acres (0.8 ha) for 100 sheep (complete diet) and 5 acres (2 ha) to provide a quarter of the daily forage DM intake for 100 cows. |
Early Fold Root Mixture
Ref. MIXEFORG 66% Organic Sown either in the spring for mid-summer grazing or after cereals for autumn/early winter use. This is a fast growing mixture capable of producing up to 45 tonnes per hectare with a dry matter content of 10% in approximately 10-12 weeks.
2.00 kg certified DYNAMO ORGANIC stubble turnip
1.00 kg certified HOBSON forage rape 3.00 kg per acre (5 kg/ha)
Stubble Turnip
Turnips are grown in most areas of the UK as a highly digestible catch crop. Stubble turnips have amazing initial growth capacity and produce crops within 9 - 12 weeks from sowing. Early sowing takes place in late April and produce heavy crops for fattening lambs weaned off grass from late June onwards. Sowing also takes place throughout the summer until late August for feed through until January. Broadcast 2 kg per acre or drill at 1.5 kg per acre. Hardy turnips* require a 20 week growing period and are sown from May - July.
DYNAMO ORGANIC
stubble turnip
£8.00/kg
Forage Rape
NON ORGANIC SEED Forage rape is a quick growing green forage, ideal for catch cropping. It is sown from April to August to provide forage 12 weeks later. It can be zero grazed but is usually grazed in situ. In most years it can be relied upon to produce forage until Christmas. Forage rape is also used as a nurse crop for establishing a new ley.
It makes an excellent feed for lambs and tolerates poor soils so can be used as a pioneer crop in upland situations. Sow at 4 kg per acre.
HOBSON
forage rape
£1.95/kg
Swede
This crop is ideally suited to cooler, wetter parts of the
north and west of Britain. Swedes are superior to
turnips for frost hardiness and keeping quality. Sowing
should take place from early April until mid June.
Natural seed is sown at 1.5 kg per acre (4 kg/hectare).
LOMOND ORGANIC
swede
£60.00/kg
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