I'm just looking at my field of turnips revelling at the lack of weeds with an Autumn planting. We have a massive fat hen problem here, amongst many other weeds, which gives me a huge huge headache with spring planting. The field also had a big thistle problem. So I'm thinking I'd like to put it back to grass late summer, is there anything I could put in in the interim or should I just leave it fallow?
Summer catch crop after turnips
- Thread starter jemski
- Start date
- Location
- Cornwall.
1-2 year IRG mix, spray out your weeds then go into a more long term grass ley.
MJT
Member
Ah fair enough ! Forage Rye would be another option ....would grow like hell though !
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
Fodder rape? That would smother any remaining weeds!
- Location
- Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk
+1 for Forage Rye
South Downs Farmer
Member
- Location
- Sussex, UK
Turnips again? Shouldn't give you a club root headache as a one off. Cheaper to grow than any rye or westerwolds surely?
A couple of times before we have gone wheat - stubble turnips in August - stubble turnips in May - wheat, and out of curiosity some fag packet sums showed given the lambs we finished off that field off both sowings it gave a better margin than OSR would have in the same 12 months. Winner!
A couple of times before we have gone wheat - stubble turnips in August - stubble turnips in May - wheat, and out of curiosity some fag packet sums showed given the lambs we finished off that field off both sowings it gave a better margin than OSR would have in the same 12 months. Winner!
- Location
- Devon
Or rape/ kale hybrid - get regrowth then.
exmoor dave
Member
- Location
- exmoor, uk
After what we saw at a walk last week, go careful grazing white faced lambs on it over summer!
Crop scald!
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
After the rave reviews on here, I tried a field of ProtoPlus this Spring, in a similar scenario to the OP. I DD'ed into a field after grazed swedes, following a glyphosate application to take out a few weeds. The aim was to give another chance to hit weeds with glypho, before putting a pp ley in. I have been staggered by the quantity of feed produced by that field, without once entering the field with a fert spreader. I had a good bit of fat hen emerge after drilling, which a graze/topper cleared out completely. It's still growing well now, and I expect it to grow well into the winter unless it gets really cold.
The plan was to spray off and reseed in the Spring, but wondering whether the IRG will see next year out first?
The plan was to spray off and reseed in the Spring, but wondering whether the IRG will see next year out first?
- Location
- Cornwall.
Proto Plus is another possibility it will be a bit hit or miss on the clover over wintering but the IRG will take you to next autumn .
Whole crop peas/cereals undersown with a grass mix? Silage removed in summer leaving a weed free ley already established. I used to follow turnips like this on my flat fields to good effect. The rougher fields I used for roots under Tir Gofal that went straight back to grass always ended up with far more weeds
mark perego
Member
- Location
- in a river
Thing is what could yu most do with early summer on? Something to fatten lambs ie rape etc. Grass to bale /eat. Westorworlds
Or summat to get winter feed out of eg oats-straw
Or summat to get winter feed out of eg oats-straw
Broadcast feed barley, mow it and bale/wrap early july. 2 months to work ground and kill weeds properly before sept. reseed.