Forage Cover Crops

Jimbo789

I have sown decent Redstart crops after winter barley in the past using direct drill method, with artificial fertiliser when sowing and topdressing a month later and spraying off volunteers. I got multiple grazings and worked well for fattening lambs and feeding inlamb ewes later.

This year I want to sow a forage crop after spring barley but I want to go with a lower cost method because I would be expecting a much lower yield with the later sowing date.

This will be the first year I’ll be chopping the straw. Will the chopped straw on the surface make more cultivation necessary or would it be sufficient to go with one run of a disc with a mounted broadcast seeder and rolling after to establish the crop?

I’m not in ACRES and the crop would be grazed by sheep from November onwards. I was considering leafy turnip. DLF have Jupiter variety and Germinal have Appin variety. Is there much difference between these varieties?

DLF and Germinal sell a leafy turnip and forage rape mix but do people just use it qualify for the ACRES 2 crop requirement or would there be any advantage of sowing a leafy turnip and forage rape mix rather than just the leafy turnip?

Waffletraktor

Chopped barley can be harsh on young plants as a wet Mat, you would be best to give it a little mixing alright though not too deep to make it bottomless in the wet? I’d stick with what works for you after that.

One thing I’d be worried with the promotion of straight brassica mixes is the build up of club root if your in a cash crop heavy rotation, nothing will spread it like sheep. Especially now cover crops are getting more common it’s meant to be building up a bit in the soils, noticeable in osr crops this year.