Winter Forage Crops

[cjk]

Anybody plant Turnips in the fall for winter grazing?

The extension agent here did one trial last year, and hopes to find ground for doing so this year to compare results. Results were far greater forage value than fall triticale, which was about 2t/ac (IIRC).

Just thought I would see if anyone else has any experience with this?

 

[fargus]

We've tried them twice. Never got them to work for us. Some others up here have had good luck with those turnips after winter wheat harvest, but we couldn't get them to do a whole lot, even when we blasted a bunch of manure out before planting. IF you can get them to grow they make great feed. Lots of sugar in the turnips and I think they hold their value well after a killing frost.

 

[Jogeephus]

I've had good luck with rape which is in the brassica family but doesn't produce the big root. Cattle have to adjust to them but once they get a taste for them they really like them but it does make the hindsides rather green and nasty looking and you best not best not stand behind one when it sends out the green projectile. :lol2:

 

[hayray]

I did turnips two years in a row and forage rape also. The first year I planted in August and started grazing mid October into January. I got so much tonnage it was unbelievable and I could not understand why everybody was not planting them, I thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. The second year they did not germinate well, real dry and cold fall and once I started grazing we had such a cold November that the below 20 degree temps turned the greens to mush and the snow got so deep I could not graze the bulbs anymore so I lost a thousand dollars, they did not grow hardly at all that year anyways even without the cold. So they are one of those crops that alot of years don't grow well. For me it turned out far better to put more time into fencing for proper resource utilization and pasture improvement.