Cover Crop Outwintering Heifers

[shields kaiser]

We did this once...very hard to plough afterwords.

We grow Kale/Rape/Redstart sown after winter barley and added leafy turnip and stubble turnip to the mix this year. Great feeding for weanlings, lighter animals leave less of a mark on the land. We did get a bit caught out last year with the in calf heifers they had a bit too much condition for calving.

Hopefully will get them to eat most of the hay, but dont plan to plough, just DD again with grass seed in Spring, or maybe another crop.

I can believe that with a large amount of condition, turnips will pack it on, especially if a mild winter

 

[Samcowman]

Just a thought. With the idea of doing it as cheaply as possible and adding a bit more diversity in would it be possible to add some rape into the mix out of a friendly local arable farmers shed.
Also straw is cheap this year maybe worth keeping half an eye out for barley straw to store up for next year if you are worried about to condition to mix with the hay bales!!! Good way of buying in fertility/carbon.

 

[shields kaiser]

Just a thought. With the idea of doing it as cheaply as possible and adding a bit more diversity in would it be possible to add some rape into the mix out of a friendly local arable farmers shed.
Also straw is cheap this year maybe worth keeping half an eye out for barley straw to store up for next year if you are worried about to condition to mix with the hay bales!!! Good way of buying in fertility/carbon.

Yes, a good shout with the straw bales, I'd imagine chopped bales would be easier to degrade, possibly wheat straw better again.
What does rape add to the party Sam? Its not something I've read about other than forage rape, is it easily grazeable too? Cheers!

 

[Samcowman]

The rape ours grazed was volunteers out of the back of the combine. It would add more diversity in their diet and also would benefit your below ground livestock as well with that diversity. Once ours had the taste for it it was the first thing they grazed.