Grassland and forage crops

Sowing forage brassicas this summer? You need to read this!

Are you looking to sow a forage brassica crop in August in a bid to keep livestock out grazing for longer, and so reduce your livestock feed and housing costs this winter? These crops can be economically established into stubble and then grazed from late autumn onwards. However, they might not fit into every system and site selection is crucial, especially when grazing them.

The nutrient requirements of either Forage Rape, Stubble Turnips or Rape/Kale hybrid crops are similar. They respond well to nitrogen and sulphur applications and good soil phosphate fertility. On fields with good (index 2) soil phosphate and potash fertility, we recommend 310 – 370 kg/ha (2½ - 3 cwt./acre) of YaraMila 52 S or YaraMila SILAGE BOOSTER broadcast onto the seedbed in one application. This will provide all the nitrogen, phosphate, potash and sulphur these crops need to establish and maximise growth over a comparatively short growing period.

Brassica crops, also have a requirement for boron, and we recommend at least one foliar application of YaraVita Brassitrel Pro at a rate of 3 L/ha at the 4 – 6 leaf stage. This is a flowable liquid suspension fertiliser with a balanced combination of micronutrients including boron, manganese, magnesium and molybdenum for foliar application on forage brassicas.

Don’t delay sowing these crops, as research demonstrates that the yield of Forage Rape sown at the end of August is less than 30 % of that sown in the first week in August.

For more information search online for “Yara forage brassica”