catch crop conundrum

[Neddy flanders]

hi wonder if anyone can suggest a catch crop...
after WW (combined today!) and before a crop of spring oats to be drilled next march.
grazeable with sheep cover crop please.
but - no clubroot hosts, so no brassicas.
no black oats
no rye or barley please
lots of legumes please.
what about grass, which species of grass might be useable by Nov if sown now. lots of moisture, midlands.
also must be attractive to lambs. dont want them to stand and look at it as its not palatable.
thanks for any help

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Westerwolds. And seed is cheap, just over £30/acre , no other grass will be away as quick and very palatable
Pm me if you want a price ,will do you a good deal and get it to you in 3 working days

Westerwolds Ryegrass Grass Seed (Lolium Westerwoldic) (Acre Pack)

Westerwolds Ryegrass Grass Seed (Lolium Westerwoldic) (Acre Pack). Annual grass that lasts 1-2 years. Extremely fast growing and establishment (fastest growing grass available) (Annual type of Italian Ryegrass). Very high yielding and high sugar. Super fast germination, establishment & early spring.

www.hmseeds.co.uk

That price is just a acre pack , I will be cheaper than that

 

[Anymulewilldo]

You will be doing well to recoup the seed and establishment costs for grass relying just on winter grazing... just warning you so you don't get disheartened in the spring

 

[Derrick Hughes]

You will be doing well to recoup the seed and establishment costs for grass relying just on winter grazing... just warning you so you don't get disheartened in the spring

His costs . Say £35 for seed sod all to make a seed bed in stubble . Firt perhaps . OK I dont know what he his expecting yield wise . But the improvement to the soil structure and fertility will cover his small costs ,

 

[Anymulewilldo]

His costs . Say £35 for seed sod all to make a seed bed in stubble . Firt perhaps . OK I dont know what he his expecting yield wise . But the improvement to the soil structure and fertility will cover his small costs ,

Are there not any nitrogen fixing covercrops that are cheap? Not found one yet that can't be grazed by sheep?

 

[andybk]

peas , vetches , oats

 

[Neddy flanders]

peas , vetches , oats

thankyou for those that have replied.
i have beans/peas in rotation so wary of legumes
also OSR so wary of brassicas.

thats my conundrum.
i need to do far more research to find the right species.

 

[Great In Grass]

What ratio do you grow OSR to?

 

[Anymulewilldo]

thankyou for those that have replied.
i have beans/peas in rotation so wary of legumes
also OSR so wary of brassicas.

thats my conundrum.
i need to do far more research to find the right species.

Ahh, sorry, thought you meant you wanted lots of legumes! My mistake

 

[neilo]

thankyou for those that have replied.
i have beans/peas in rotation so wary of legumes
also OSR so wary of brassicas.

thats my conundrum.
i need to do far more research to find the right species.

You're stuck with Westerwolds or Oats. Oats could be cheapest I suspect (straight from the heap?), but Westerwolds drilled now, assuming they get a bit of moisture, will be too strong by November. You'd want to be into them well before, or have a mowing crop in September before grazing from November. It will need feeding with N though.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Oats @50kg/ha plus a half-rate of good (that is, cheap, not the flash golden grass) italian ryegrass

maybe half a kilo of tillage radish, depends how you want your N delivered next year

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I would not put grain if you want to follow with grain . And how much will oats cost . Be more that £30 surly

 

[Kiwi Pete]

We'd nearly always put a light cereal rate in a catchcrop ahead of the cashcrop, it does most of the work for it. Dairy farms have cows in front of cows and that works

 

[neilo]

We'd nearly always put a light cereal rate in a catchcrop ahead of the cashcrop, it does most of the work for it. Dairy farms have cows in front of cows and that works

It would be usual to spray out volunteer cereals in brassica catch crops here, to try to prevent disease carry over, amongst other things.

 

[neilo]

I would not put grain if you want to follow with grain . And how much will oats cost . Be more that £30 surly

What are oats trading at? £130/t? 190kg/ha would come in at £25, or a tenner an acre.

Of course the seed police will be knocking on my door now, like Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition, telling me that I have to pay royalties on such a crop even though I have no intention of taking it harvest. "Nobody expects the Seed Police".

Stand down men. For the record, I have no intention of growing any oats here, other than the wild ones the previous tenant and his sub-tenants had already planted for me.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

What are oats trading at? £130/t? 190kg/ha would come in at £25, or a tenner an acre.

Of course the seed police will be knocking on my door now, like Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition, telling me that I have to pay royalties on such a crop even though I have no intention of taking it harvest. "Nobody expects the Seed Police".

Stand down men. For the record, I have no intention of growing any oats here, other than the wild ones the previous tenant and his sub-tenants had already planted for me.

Ok fair play got that wrong. Would still go with Westerwolds though . Surly grow back quicker than oats when grazed

 

[Derrick Hughes]

If Westerwolds was sown now to be ploughed out in the spring could you lower the seed rate or would that be false economy