Green globe/Massif vs Swedes

Got a field here which is fallow and due to go for Swedes any day. Just thinking about it though not sure I've got the heart to be spending £50 acre on Swede seed (natural seed for direct drilling) for tack sheep what with flea beetle risk and the fact that last year it didn't pay well.

Thinking of maybe Green globe at £10 acre may be a better shot and if they don't establish so well then there is less lost despite less grazing.
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
had similar thoughts....trialing ac of fodder beet next to ac of green globe as i try to establish best value long term.....i think whatever you'll need to spray for flea beetle though
 
£50 per acre for natural seed is very dear
Treated seed available for a lot less

How much? About £45 kilo is cheapest cruizer dressed.

I think what ill do is grow some balls and copy @Yale and seed them at .5kg acre with pellets and hope for the best. £30 acre on pellets and seed seems a bit better. If the seed rate is too low or theyre rubbish then i will have another option
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I can do kenmore swedes treated for less than £45
@neilo has just DDed some last week
750g per acre

Yep, just finished drilling them today (I ran out of seed, so had to find 2kg more:facepalm:). 750g/ac is plenty if drilled in good conditions (like just after a few days rain, when the soil is damp & warm). Any more in those conditions and you end up with a huge number, all about the size of radishes IME. Bigger ones, further apart, usually produce a higher DM/ha.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Got a field here which is fallow and due to go for Swedes any day. Just thinking about it though not sure I've got the heart to be spending £50 acre on Swede seed (natural seed for direct drilling) for tack sheep what with flea beetle risk and the fact that last year it didn't pay well.

Thinking of maybe Green globe at £10 acre may be a better shot and if they don't establish so well then there is less lost despite less grazing.

Unless you're growing the swedes under Glastir 'unsprayed roots' rules, you can spray flea beetle out relatively cheaply. A quick sniff of Permasect as soon as you see any damage and they're gone (for a bit anyway).

Green globe will be a more vigorous crop and establish much faster than swedes. However, the yield from maincrop turnips will be about half that of swedes, on account of the much lower DM. Of course, if you're letting the keep out, a good crop of turnips will look more impressive.;)

Agree that £50/ac is FAR too dear for seed. You should shop around more.
 
We precision drilled swedes @ 300grams an acre, six inch spacings. A pack of seed cost £40, so only £13ish an acre. Drilled last year at 8 inches @ about 200 grams, still had a good crop at that rate. Even @ £20 an acre drilling it isn't that expensive
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Do you always use kenmore @neilo ? Just wondering what the best options are for in lamb ewes for late winter, early spring would be.

No, I've never grown it before, just what my friendly local supplier had.

I've also drilled some Lomond that I had left over from last year, and a couple of kilos of Gowrie that I got in to finish up. I know which went where, so I will see if there is any difference come the winter.

A couple of years ago I was persuaded to pay a bit more to get some more modern varieties, as they yield so much more than the Maran I had been growing. I planted one patch with some Maran seed that I had carried over and it massively outyielded the new. I have come to the conclusion that luck with the weather and flea beetle has far more influence on yield than varietal choice, and certainly won't pay much of a premium based on theoretical yield.
They are all pretty winter hardy, unless you are more exposed and higher up than us.
 

JD-Kid

Member
No, I've never grown it before, just what my friendly local supplier had.

I've also drilled some Lomond that I had left over from last year, and a couple of kilos of Gowrie that I got in to finish up. I know which went where, so I will see if there is any difference come the winter.

A couple of years ago I was persuaded to pay a bit more to get some more modern varieties, as they yield so much more than the Maran I had been growing. I planted one patch with some Maran seed that I had carried over and it massively outyielded the new. I have come to the conclusion that luck with the weather and flea beetle has far more influence on yield than varietal choice, and certainly won't pay much of a premium based on theoretical yield.
They are all pretty winter hardy, unless you are more exposed and higher up than us.
seen that with some of the new wonder grasses ment to be way highter yeilds and some do other 20% more in winter accounts to FA when band x is not growing in the frist pace
i know a guy years ago planted a common annual rye and a new wizz bang type side by side the older type out grew the newer one
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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