Now is the time for Winter Forage Crops!
While the rain has certainly made harvesting difficult in the last few weeks, those fields that are cleared provide a great opportunity to plant fast growing forage crops for livestock.
For those looking to harvest Wheat in 2-3 weeks time, now is also the time to broadcast these seeds into standing stubbles to steal a few weeks' growth.
Please see below for a run down of summer sowing options:
Stubble Turnips - A high protein, fast growing crop that can be sown from now until mid/end of August, these can be sown into a worked seedbed or direct drilled.
Sow at 2kgs per acre. Later sowings can reduce bulb size as we head towards autumn.
https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/products/1587/stubble-turnip-brassica-rapa
Forage Rape - This leafy, well known crop takes about 10-12 weeks to establish from sowing. If planted now it will be ready for grazing earlier than Stubble Turnips which is ideal for later autumn grazing.
Early Fold Root Mix - A mix of Stubble Turnip and Forage Rape, this mix will be Stubble Turnip dominant. The inclusion of Forage Rape helps to boost the protein level.
https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/products/817/early-fold-root-mixture
Hybrid Rape Kale:
Interval - A fast growing crossing of True Kale and Forage Rape, this species takes 10-12 weeks to establish and suits pre-Christmas grazing for sheep or cattle.
https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/products/2683/interval-hybrid-rape-kale-brassica-napus
Redstart - This is another Hybrid Rape Kale, with more of the kale parentage, which improves winter hardiness and better regrowth after grazing. It suits post Christmas grazing.
https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/products/2448/redstart-hybrid-rape-kale-brassica-napus
Please call us for sowing rates and establishment advice.
We also have a range of arable cover crop and catch crop options, many of which are tailored for specific situations at no extra cost.
Date Posted: 25th July 2023
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