Rape Vs. turnip for summer crop

[Cows 'n grass]

I've been growing Greenland's forage rape for the last couple of years and had a massive crop last year and it fed well but it's a real pain moving the fence each day in a 4/5 foot high crop, in the end last year we started just driving through with the tractor and heavy roll to flatten in each day so I'm wondering whether to try turnips again to make life easier.

All UK adverts for turnips talk about 3 or 4 t DM / ha whereas NZ publications on the same varieties talk of upto 12t DM/ha.

One thing i like about forage rape us that if i don't need it in a wetter summer then i can leave it until sept and quality is still okay. How would turnips down soon fare in sept? Mildewy mess?

It will be drilled with a Claydon on a full auto steer tractor so another alternative is drill every other bout with turnips then come back and fill in the gaps with rape. Best of both?

Any thoughts welcome. Cheers all.

 

[cornishfarmer]

Till green globe turnips, work well in a dry summer, if it's too wet they can rot a bit also takes a few days for the cows to work out that they have to pick them out the ground so they can get at the bulb. Buy the end of summer you will get fed up of having every meal with turnip

 

[Kevtherev]

What about swedes?

 

[cornishfarmer]

Never done swedes (as in the crop) more of a Devon thing with red soil. Don't know much aboutthem but traditionally they need a frost to taste better whether this increases feed value. Turnips you can get a nice crop for £40 odd/ha

 

[Sid]

I like the alternative strip idea. Keeping quality issue I've never come across but maybe drilling in two sections would help as a months difference may help?

 

[lazy farmer]

is it going to rain then ?

 

[Great In Grass]

Instead of all this messing around with strips and that why not sow a mix?

Something like a Kale x Rape Hybrid with Forage Rape and Kale treated for flea beetle (only the kale will be treated). Ideal for droughty locations where grass is short in summer or early autumn you could still stagger sowing. Only thing is where to get such a mix?

 

[Cows 'n grass]

is it going to rain then ?

In the end, it's already sprayed out so I'm fairly committed now. I think it was back around 2009 to 2011 we had some really poor crops that were a waste of time anyway when we had some really dry springs followed by wet summers.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Instead of all this messing around with strips and that why not sow a mix?

Something like a Kale x Rape Hybrid with Forage Rape and Kale treated for flea beetle (only the kale will be treated). Ideal for droughty locations where grass is short in summer or early autumn you could still stagger sowing. Only thing is where to get such a mix?

Where's the fun in that? I want my stripes to get the neighbours wondering what the fek is going on.

I put up a photo last year where a neighbour had managed to drill all their winter cereals with one side of the drill blocked so it appeared they had missed every other bout. They filled in all the missed bits a few weeks later but it looked terrible all year

 

[Great In Grass]

Where's the fun in that? I want my stripes to get the neighbours wondering what the fek is going on.

I put up a photo last year where a neighbour had managed to drill all their winter cereals with one side of the drill blocked so it appeared they had missed every other bout. They filled in all the missed bits a few weeks later but it looked terrible all year

Your probably confusing your neighbours as it is, stripes may be taking things one step to far for them, think of their health.

 

[sidjon]

I grew turnips for several years and they are less tolerant to drought than rape, once rape has a canopy it seem to make it's own moisture, ours did 6ton/dm/ha(5 to 6 foot) and is only grazed once, most of the 12ton/dm is 2 or 3 times grazed and it's not great to grow a high dm/ha crop for the cows to not eat half of it. Or just to throw something different in like plantan and white clover so you have a longer period of crop for cows to eat.

 

[Kevtherev]

Typhon used to be popular in the area as did rye

 

[Cows 'n grass]

I grew turnips for several years and they are less tolerant to drought than rape, once rape has a canopy it seem to make it's own moisture, ours did 6ton/dm/ha(5 to 6 foot) and is only grazed once, most of the 12ton/dm is 2 or 3 times grazed and it's not great to grow a high dm/ha crop for the cows to not eat half of it. Or just to throw something different in like plantan and white clover so you have a longer period of crop for cows to eat.

What's your technique for getting a fence up without it shorting?

 

[Kevtherev]

Used to cut a line through with little hedge trimmer didn't actually take long

 

[Beef farmer]

I was cutting 4 strip fences out with one of them for February and March, it was hard enough work.

 

[Headless chicken]

Would a metal blade on a strimmer not work? Even better someone sat on front of quad with strimmer? Just have a day at it?

Or ask the drill man to leave a small gap every so often.

 

[Kevtherev]

Have driven the quad through but not very nice on a wet day

 

[Beef farmer]

@Irish NZ Has a blade on the front of the quad.

 

[Mr Mackay]

Tyfon and forage rape mixed , but as you say , if the rape gets high

 

[sidjon]

What's your technique for getting a fence up without it shorting?

Oversized mains fencer I brought back of NZ, it's for a 500ha farm and I'm 42ha and has not charge drop on it so with keep a good shock at fence, but will walk up one side of fence to push down any that are way to big.