Whether you are filling a summer deficit or using as a finishing feed, selecting, and growing the right crop is critical. Since brassicas reduce worm burdens in young stock, it may be worth including them in your system. Here are some valuable tips for picking the best crop for you.
Selecting my brassica
º Timing: When do I require the feed?
º Planting: Best practice is to plant crops once soil temperatures are above 10°C and rising.
º Stock class: What animals am I feeding? Lambs, cattle, or deer?
º Exit strategy: When will my brassica crop finish? What is my exit strategy?
Types of brassicas
º Leafy turnips & raphanobrassica: Fastest crops to grazing, ready approximately 50 days from planting. Both are multi-graze options suitable for rotational systems.
º Rapes: Longer maturity date, taking 70 to 90 days to maturity, depending on type. Rapes are multi-graze and tend to be leafy. So, while yield may look lower, the crop utilisation and quality can be high. It is important not to graze these until they are mature, so follow your seed supplier’s recommendation.
º Summer turnips: Mature in 70 to 90 days with high yields. 15 tonnes Dry Matter can be achieved in only 90 days.
º Kale: With no maturity date, kale is a popular summer and autumn grazing option. This crop offers flexibility and may be grazed before being shut up to regrow for a winter crop.
Paddock prep
» Spray out: Whether direct drilling or planting into cultivated soils, weed control is essential. A well-planned spray out is required to control grass and flat weeds such as thistles, dandelions, and docks. Controlling weeds after the crop has established is more difficult and expensive, so early treatment is advised.
» Planting: As a small seed, brassicas are best planted close to the surface, 5 to 10 mm, in a fine, firm seed bed. Plant when weather is consistently above 10°C or above.
» Pests: Protect your seedling plants from insects, such as Springtails and Nysius, with a seed treatment. Slugs are another potential threat to monitor. Though most prevalent when direct drilling, they can be present in crops post winter feed. Metarex Inov at three to five kg per ha or Iron max pro at five to seven kg per ha sorts out the slugs.
» Once planting is complete, apply a pre-emergence treatment, and take care of seedling weeds as they emerge. An application of glyphosate and an insecticide with pre-emerge added is an effective way to tackle any late striking or residual weeds. It is also effective against bugs, so they do not compete with the brassica at an early stage.
» If you are growing a clean crop brassica, Telar and Magister are effective pre-emerge treatments. A mixture of alachlor and clomazone containing pre-emergence herbicides are good choices for conventional brassica.
Post-planting
» Inspect regularly for insects, weeds, and slugs. Early detection is the best chance for survival. Most weeds have a treatment option available post-planting, however weed control is most effective before planting.
Feeding
» Accurately measure your crop and allocate appropriately to reach your desired growth rates. Be sure to factor in utilisation loss, so be generous in your allocations. An extended feed test is also recommended and your PGG Wrighton Technical Field Representative can help you.
