Zoom forage brassica

[neilo]

@Great In Grass excuse my ignorance but would a hybrid such as zoom ( a rape/Winifred hybrid as I understand ) still be able to be incorporated into a arable rotation which already included oil seed rape ?

Zoom is a mix of rape and Winfred (which is the hybrid), mixed to get round Oliver Seeds exclusive rights on straight Winfred, so I'm told.

It is a brassica and closely related to OSR, so could cause clubroot problems in a tight rotation with that crop.

 

[JD-Kid]

few pic's of fodder rape here sowed it to see the diffrence between winafred and greenland it was sowen in 1/2 drill IE 1/2 10 foot drill on one side other 1/2 the other
not a lot of diffrence bike in pic 500 cc just to give idea of hight that was taken 30/1/07
hoggets grazeing it 15/2/07

 

[JD-Kid]

should have also said it started off a wet year then dryed off as you can see in the background of some of the pic's
these 2 pics taken 10/3/07 bit hard to flush on that i have a funny feeling we come close to sending hoggets away grazeing that year rained in june tho
the green paddock is alfalfa but there was not alot on there

 

[itsintheblood]

Makes @exmoor daves look positively lush and green !!!

 

[Great In Grass]

The photo below is of Sovereign kale growing in a field which grew Sovereign the previous year, club root not a problem as of yet.

 

[Northumberland]

I've been growing hybrid rapekale for a couple of years now, and does lambs great.
But always have 3 or 4 lambs loose their ears on it?

 

[South Downs Farmer]

I've been growing hybrid rapekale for a couple of years now, and does lambs great.
But always have 3 or 4 lambs loose their ears on it?

Rape scald I think it's called? A sort of photo-sensitivity thing. Seem to recall the Eblex brassicas booklet says it's more of an issue in white-faced lambs and when the crop is grazed before it's mature enough

 

[neilo]

Rape scald I think it's called? A sort of photo-sensitivity thing. Seem to recall the Eblex brassicas booklet says it's more of an issue in white-faced lambs and when the crop is grazed before it's mature enough

That explains it then. I grazed mine Zoom lightly at about 8 weeks (2' high) and had 4 or 5 that suffered from that. Caught a couple of the worst and gave Metacam to reduce swelling, which seemed to help. Had one that had me scratching my head trying to get a tag in. Mine were white faced lambs too, the same breeding as grazed more mature Zoom last year, and that are re-grazing the same field now without incident.

Anything that can be done to head it off another time?

 

[South Downs Farmer]

Just been and hunted down a print-out upstairs from PGG Seeds in Oz, they say to hold back on nitrogen and sulphur ferts and to wait for purple colouring on the leaf edges to show the crop is mature enough.

Typed this link out from the paper so not sure if it still works, on the mobile atm! http://agricom.com.au/assets/uploads/agricom_pgg.seeds.brassica.forage.guide.pdf

I've got store cattle on my hybrid and fortunately they're red or black-faced. Rape scald in a bullock doesn't bare thinking about!!

 

[johnb5555]

I had 20 with varying degrees of ear problems. That bit of k-nitro left over from second cut did give it a good dark green colour. Maybe not next year.

 

[johnb5555]

How far down do you graze first time and leave between grazings. Took mine down to stalk, bit far maybe, but lot of small leaves for second grazing.

 

[neilo]

How far down do you graze first time and leave between grazings. Took mine down to stalk, bit far maybe, but lot of small leaves for second grazing.

I took it down to about 2" of stalk last year, not expecting any regrowth of value, but was amazed at how well it grew back. This year, I took it down to about 6-8" of stalk and I'm not sure if the regrowth was any more really. I chucked another cwt/ac of CAN on it after the first grazing, then shut the gate for 6-7 weeks. It was sown in a mix with stubble turnips, to provide a bit of bottom & energy, and I was surprised that they seemed to grow back more quickly than the Zoom. They are gone now though, whereas the Zoom will get another grazing in the Spring I expect.

 

[Northumberland]

Is it safe to feed barley alongside brassica's.
I have been lambs are doing very well, but getting a high death rate, unsure if it's bloat due to too high of feed quality or feeding too much barley .5kg
Shouldn't be pneumonia because they were ovivaced twice as lambs but can't rule it out

 

[neilo]

Is it safe to feed barley alongside brassica's.
I have been lambs are doing very well, but getting a high death rate, unsure if it's bloat due to too high of feed quality or feeding too much barley .5kg
Shouldn't be pneumonia because they were ovivaced twice as lambs but can't rule it out

I am feeding a bit of whole barley through a 3-in-1 feeder, but nearer 100g than 500g. Lost a few when I had it opened up to get them eating it, but nothing since it's been shut down. They are doing better for having that little bit, perhaps being dry, it stops the brassicas passing through so quickly?

 

[scholland]

How early in the year would u sow zoom or swift and how many grazes would you get? Usually put it in after silage around mid June but next year it is going in after barley from this year so can be in early. Not sure how much use it would be through the summer but seems a shame to have field not doing anything in the spring and early summer.

 

[sherg]

Is it safe to feed barley alongside brassica's.
I have been lambs are doing very well, but getting a high death rate, unsure if it's bloat due to too high of feed quality or feeding too much barley .5kg
Shouldn't be pneumonia because they were ovivaced twice as lambs but can't rule it out

they can still get pneumonia even if they've been ovivaced twice we had 4 or 5 lambs die of it last year, maybe cut the next one open that dies?

 

[Northumberland]

they can still get pneumonia even if they've been ovivaced twice we had 4 or 5 lambs die of it last year, maybe cut the next one open that dies?

Thanks sherg I will do.
If it is pnemonia is it best to ovivac again or blanket antibiotic

 

[sherg]

Thanks sherg I will do.
If it is pnemonia is it best to ovivac again or blanket antibiotic

We just went in with a long acting terramycin and it sorted them out right away, would of thought ovivac wouldn't do much if they've been done twice already.

 

[neilo]

We just went in with a long acting terramycin and it sorted them out right away, would of thought ovivac wouldn't do much if they've been done twice already.

I lost 3 ram lambs this Autumn with pasteurella, despite having 2x Ovivac P+ earlier on. Got them in quietly and did them all all with long acting Oxytet to stop any more going down, at the same time as another shot of Ovivac to boost immunity. Still lost another 3 weeks later though.

That was a small group (100) though, and might have done different if it was a big group of commercial lambs.

 

[Northumberland]

Was a big batch 600 nearly one a day for ten days.
Warrens took lambs away before a got chance to get the knife out.
Removed lambs from kale yesterday no dead ones this morning.
I do hope it is not the kale that's the issue. I have ten acre left and it is rocket fuel