Fodder beet newbie

[crazy_bull]

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but what would the difference in feed suitability of sugar beet vs fodder beet?

c B

 

[Al R]

We have a general low stocking rate so still have a bit of grass and also find that once the fodder beet is out they tend to eat that and don't graze as much, which makes me wonder about the balance.

If you had an option over quorn or fillet steak which would you go for? Or would you go celery or triple chocolate ice cream?

 

[spin cycle]

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but what would the difference in feed suitability of sugar beet vs fodder beet?

c B

sugar beet have much higher dm...so more bang for your buck....but subsequently harder so best chopped....fodder beet can be fed whole quite easily

i'm feeding fodder beet out of a forklift bucket....reversing dribbling them out as thin as possible,,,,if a little heap comes out i leave 3m or so before tipping again......typically putting 700kg in a line circa 50m long....select lightest ground where clear up will be better

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

If you had an option over quorn or fillet steak which would you go for? Or would you go celery or triple chocolate ice cream?

This is my point, they probably need to eat more grass for the balance but don't.

 

[neilo]

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit, but what would the difference in feed suitability of sugar beet vs fodder beet?

c B

There is fodder beet and fodder beet. DM% can vary from 12% to 24%, the higher ones being harder, so less suitable for feeding whole to sheep. Iirc most sugar beet varieties are at the top end of that scale for DM% (& hardness), but unaware of any great difference in feed value per kilo of DM.

If you’re chopping (for cattle or TMR) anyway, I don’t suppose hardness wouldn’t make a lot of difference.

 

[crazy_bull]

There is fodder beet and fodder beet. DM% can vary from 12% to 24%, the higher ones being harder, so less suitable for feeding whole to sheep. Iirc most sugar beet varieties are at the top end of that scale for DM% (& hardness), but unaware of any great difference in feed value per kilo of DM.

If you’re chopping (for cattle or TMR) anyway, I don’t suppose hardness wouldn’t make a lot of difference.

I have a pretty large heap to go at and probably will sell some as well, was going to feed to the sheep.

C B

 

[michael N123]

The sheep that are just on fodderbeet with no silage or grass run off are getting lick buckets Aswell

Well they’ve just got them and have been fine without

 

[TexelBen]

How much do you reckon the sheep would eat? I can get a 16 ton load in, but wondering if that's way too much!
Mule X Texel sheep and Texel crosses, so biggish ewes. Lambing mid April. Have keeping gimmers and tups that could eat some too.

 

[Skintagain]

100 sheep will eat 3-5 tonnes per week depending on their size.

 

[TexelBen]

100 sheep will eat 3-5 tonnes per week depending on their size.

Hell! The greedy buggers! We've roughly 150 lambing ewes, so 16 ton won't be ridiculous!

Thanks!

 

[michael N123]

Hell! The greedy buggers! We've roughly 150 lambing ewes, so 16 ton won't be ridiculous!

Thanks!

They’ll eat it and maybe more depending on how much grass you have
I find It’s better than feeding bales to lambing fields the sheep and lambs keep spread out over the whole field and not muddied up at feeders

 

[cotswoldcs]

This is only our second year of growing fodder beet and what a difference to last year! Last year was wet, cold, snowy and very difficult. Not the best of beet but considering the year and how dry we are I'm pleased with what we've got. This year has been incredibly dry and mild so far. 600+ ewes grazing FB with rye silage and hay given as well. Giving 3-4 rows a day and hoping the beet will last into March.

 

[sheepman1]

This is only our second year of growing fodder beet and what a difference to last year! Last year was wet, cold, snowy and very difficult. Not the best of beet but considering the year and how dry we are I'm pleased with what we've got. This year has been incredibly dry and mild so far. 600+ ewes grazing FB with rye silage and hay given as well. Giving 3-4 rows a day and hoping the beet will last into March.

Thinking of growing beet here this year for the first after two years of brassicas was wondering what varieties of beet you have used an what you thought?

 

[cotswoldcs]

As I'm grazing in-situ I'm only interested in grazing varieties. Have only grown Jamon to date. The field above is going into spring barley next week. Still grazing final field and please with how it's lasting. Fodder beet seems more dependable and better yeilding than brassicas. Still growing kale and stubble turnips to fatten lambs. Fodder beet works well for ewes, allowing me to keep them off grass for as long as possible.

 

[neilo]

Thinking of growing beet here this year for the first after two years of brassicas was wondering what varieties of beet you have used an what you thought?

Third year of growing Geronimo here, for grazing and lifting. Grown alongside Brigadier the last 2 years and yield (fresh & DM) has been far higher from the Geronimo, with more tops that stay on through a frost too. Ordered again for this year.

However, as it is set slightly lower in the ground, it’s worth dragging a scuffle through when you’ve finished, to pull the last of the roots up. With Brigadier it sits well proud and there’s no need. Geronimo’s ‘above ground’ yield is far in excess of the Brigadier still, or it has been here, but need to move the root ‘remnants’ somehow if you want to plant soon after imo.

 

[sheepwise]

As I'm grazing in-situ I'm only interested in grazing varieties. Have only grown Jamon to date. The field above is going into spring barley next week. Still grazing final field and please with how it's lasting. Fodder beet seems more dependable and better yeilding than brassicas. Still growing kale and stubble turnips to fatten lambs. Fodder beet works well for ewes, allowing me to keep them off grass for as long as possible.

Are you feeding the ewes any additional protein nearer lambing and how long before lambing do you move them onto the lambing fields?

 

[cotswoldcs]

We feed silage (or sometimes hay) with the fodder beet. I started with some rye silage which was a cover crop grown before the fodder beet. I then moved onto some grass silage closer to lambing. The ewes that are due in 2-3 weeks are on grass now, the later lambing ewes are still on fodder beet.I think they need a little time to adjust pre-lambing but as they are getting silage I don't think they'd need very long if the beet was lasting well.

 

[sheepman1]

As I'm grazing in-situ I'm only interested in grazing varieties. Have only grown Jamon to date. The field above is going into spring barley next week. Still grazing final field and please with how it's lasting. Fodder beet seems more dependable and better yeilding than brassicas. Still growing kale and stubble turnips to fatten lambs. Fodder beet works well for ewes, allowing me to keep them off grass for as long as possible.

Third year of growing Geronimo here, for grazing and lifting. Grown alongside Brigadier the last 2 years and yield (fresh & DM) has been far higher from the Geronimo, with more tops that stay on through a frost too. Ordered again for this year.

However, as it is set slightly lower in the ground, it’s worth dragging a scuffle through when you’ve finished, to pull the last of the roots up. With Brigadier it sits well proud and there’s no need. Geronimo’s ‘above ground’ yield is far in excess of the Brigadier still, or it has been here, but need to move the root ‘remnants’ somehow if you want to plant soon after imo.[/QUOTE

Thanks, useful information to know as I also plan to graze insitu.
Could you talk me through what sort of ground prep you do as well as sprays before and during, plus if you precision drilled It or not

 

[sheepman1]

Thanks, useful information to know as I also plan to graze insitu.
Could you talk me through what sort of ground prep you do as well as sprays before and during, plus if you precision drilled It or not

 

[neilo]

We feed silage (or sometimes hay) with the fodder beet. I started with some rye silage which was a cover crop grown before the fodder beet. I then moved onto some grass silage closer to lambing. The ewes that are due in 2-3 weeks are on grass now, the later lambing ewes are still on fodder beet.I think they need a little time to adjust pre-lambing but as they are getting silage I don't think they'd need very long if the beet was lasting well.

Conversely, I don’t feed any forage alongside my grazed beet, just strip grazed beet. I did put some high protein haylage out with a group of thin ewes, but they haven’t done any better for it and they are considerably dirtier fo4 having a feeder to congregate round.

My Single bearing ewes came off the beet ten days ago, onto a stubble turnip field that had already been cleared, to stop them getting too fat/lambs too big. The twins & trips are still on the beet (which I ran a scuffle through yesterday), and will likely stay there until they’re due to start lambing (April 1st).
For one reason or another (usually no grass on the lambing fields/plenty of roots left) I’ve never managed to arrange for ewes to get onto lambing paddocks much before lambing, but it’s never been an issue. If i’m Feeling generous, transition will be a few buckets of beet sprinkled on the lambing paddocks, but I doubt they’ll get too excited about it if they have grass to go at.