Brassica

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Turnips

Turnips n - A vegetable with a large yellow or white edible root

Turnips offer nutritious, highly palatable feed. They are fast maturing, can be grazed 60-100 days after sowing and typically yield 8-12 t DM/ha, for a single grazing. They are mainly used for dairy cows as a high quality summer feed to maintain milk production in situations where pasture growth and quality is typically poor. Summer turnips have high ME (typically 12+) so they complement the feeding of pasture or maize silage during this time. They should comprise no more than a third of a milking cow’s diet.

Summer turnips are also useful for pasture renewal, providing a good break crop and seedbed for autumn sown pasture.

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Swedes
Swede n - A round root vegetable with a purplish-brown skin and yellow flesh

Swedes are a high yielding, slow maturing winter crop, used as a single graze option typically between June and August. They are normally sown in late spring or summer in cool, moist climates, and are widely used in southern and inland areas of New Zealand. They typically yield 10-16 t DM/ha with higher feed quality than kales; typical ME values are 12+. Swedes maintain their bulb quality better than turnips, especially in frosty conditions. They are most often strip-grazed and cultivars have a range of maturity dates. They can be grazed by a variety of stock types in a range of farming systems.

Swedes are generally not recommended for double cropping because of the risk of disease.

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Kale
Kale n - A type of cabbage with crinkled leaves

Kale is typically sown in spring for a high yielding, single graze winter crop, grazed between June and August. The best yields are achieved when it is sown in highly fertile soils with reasonable summer moisture levels. It is becoming increasingly popular as winter grazing for dairy cows because of its high yields (10-18 t DM/ha) and good ME value (11-12). Kale is deeper rooting and more tolerant of dry conditions than swedes.

Taller, higher yielding cultivars of kale are more suited to cattle grazing, while the shorter, leafier cultivars are more suited to sheep and deer. Kale is mostly tolerant of club root and dry rot, therefore it can be used as a second crop option.

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Rape
Rape n - A yellow-flowered plant cultivated for its seeds, which yield a useful oil, and as a fodder plant

Rape is a very versatile Brassica, being suited to a wide range of soil fertility and environmental conditions, and is either spring and/or late-summer sown. It is well suited to dryland conditions where it has a very good record of on-farm performance. Rape is proven to have excellent grazing tolerance, making it very reliable for multigrazing. Rape is particularly good for lamb finishing in summer or in dry regions and has good application in deer, beef and other drystock operations.

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Multigraze Brassica
Multigraze Brassica n - Hybrid crosses between a Turnip and a rape or an asiatic leafy vegetable

Multigraze Brassicas are hybrid crosses between a Turnip and a rape or an asiatic leafy vegetable, producing one of the fastest maturing Brassicas, with a look most like a leafy, non-bulb producing Turnip. Multigraze Brassicas are quick-growing with minimal bulb development and are best suited to multiple grazings. They have been selected for vigorous regrowth, resulting in a variety of fast recovery from grazing and an excellent ability to yield in the second, third and sometimes fourth regrowth cycles. Plants usually show good resistance to most clubroot races, but they are susceptible to drought and aphids, and are best suited to heavier soil conditions with periodic summer moisture and/or irrigation.

Multigraze Brassica is an ideal crop for lamb finishing and is suitable for most stock classes.

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