Is it too late to sow stubble turnips?

Selectamatic

Member
Location
North Wales
Hello,

Usually by this time they have been in the ground for about a month, but time has got away from me this year!

I usually sow some stubble turnips, rape, kale. Lambs graze them over winter.

If it is too late, could I sow anything else there instead...?
 

4course

Member
Location
north yorks
Hello,

Usually by this time they have been in the ground for about a month, but time has got away from me this year!

I usually sow some stubble turnips, rape, kale. Lambs graze them over winter.

If it is too late, could I sow anything else there instead...?
if its any help we sew some forage rape and mustard middle and end of august hardly any sign of it until monday after some decent rain. Now all over the field and romping away as are the new grass leys which I feared had failed in parts
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
we have sown hybrid forage rape up to end sept, gets going, but then stops growth, and then in march starts again, really trying to put up a seed head, but does give some welcome green feed late winter/early spring. And our reseeds are going great guns as well.
 

Spud

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
YO62
How soon do you want to start grazing them? I'd say its getting late enough, but as @4course , we have cover crops that have been in the ground 2-3 weeks that are very slow out the blocks to say the least. I'd sow the best field and call it done.
Heres mine a week ago, sown last few days of August iirc
834931
 
Last edited:

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
How soon do you want to start grazing them? I'd say its getting late enough, but as @4course , we have cover crops that have been in the ground 2-3 weeks that are very slow out the blocks to say the least. I'd sow the best field and call it done.
Heres mine a week ago, sown last few days of August iirc
View attachment 834931
our forage rape, sown 18 august, is now 12 inches, and going great guns, the game cover, sown 2 sept, is only 2/3 inches, but going well. Just goes to show, the earlier the better !
 

Chae1

Member
Location
Aberdeenshire
our forage rape, sown 18 august, is now 12 inches, and going great guns, the game cover, sown 2 sept, is only 2/3 inches, but going well. Just goes to show, the earlier the better !
I put some in mid August lucky if its 3 inches. Been really slow. 30 acre in different fields/farms. Disappointed. Won't be worth strip grazing just let the cows loose on it.
 

Hilly

Member
I put some stubble turnips in end August don’t think they going to come to much to be honest, three weeks after the field was ploughed due to bloody rain if I had got em in when I wanted would have been a lot better .
 

HarryB97

Member
Mixed Farmer
Probably be better off with a ryegrass or westerwolds, could chuck a few turnips etc in as an experiment then ull no in the future if it's worth drilling them late. Depending what crop the field was in previosuly you could fertilise the volunteers as well then when they're grazed off tip fodder beet on the ground?
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
with forage rape we use redstart, was talked into trying spitfire, redstart here is a damn site better than spitfire, its more aggressive, and once it's got its roots down, grows like hell, spitfire, really not impressed
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Hello,

Usually by this time they have been in the ground for about a month, but time has got away from me this year!

I usually sow some stubble turnips, rape, kale. Lambs graze them over winter.

If it is too late, could I sow anything else there instead...?

It rather depends on what type of winter we get. I DD’ed some stubble turnips after late Spring Barley last year, in the first week of October. I would rather something was growing in that soil, rather than leaving it as bare stubble all winter, and figured an early Spring bite would be handy. With the winter we had, there was a big crop there by early March, to the extent that I had to take the hoggets off in April and top the remainder.
If it had been a cold, wet winter, the result would have been rather different.
 

sherg

Member
Location
shropshire
I chucked some on with a bit of fert the other day i doubt it'll come to much but it would just be handy to have something there by the end of march next year, to be honest the stuff sown 6 weeks ago is looking pretty ordinary this year
 

DRC

Member
I chucked some on with a bit of fert the other day i doubt it'll come to much but it would just be handy to have something there by the end of march next year, to be honest the stuff sown 6 weeks ago is looking pretty ordinary this year
Can the seed loose vigour if over yeared?
Just wondering if we had our seed from the same place .
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Most oilseed seeds are over yeared. The harvest of the seed is too close to the sowing date to get it tested and certified in time.

Having seen how persistent oilseed rape seed is in the soil, I doubt it loses much vigour if kept well in a shed.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.8%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

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

  • 1,287
  • 1
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/
Top