Blog

All posts

Forage Brassica's

22 July 2013

I took a weeks annual leave last week, decided to do a small ticky tour around the top third so to speak of the South Island. Forage brassica’s intrigue me somewhat. So on the trip I soaked up as many crops as possible, this was only from the road… Overall, forage brassica crops vary hugely in terms of yield (dry matter / T) from what looked to be very good, and crops that were very poor…

There seems to be some fundamentals needed, from what I can see to get a financially viable forage brassica crop. Ground preparation is vital, this during my travels varied greatly. Accurate seeding at planting is again vital in my opinion. Weeds looked to be the greatest threat to getting good brassica plant establishments. I had no way of knowing if blocks had pre-emergent herbicides applied. It was obvious, some must have, not a weed in sight…

Best robust brew for me is: Frontier-P@ 650mls/ha, Treflan@ 2l/ha, Magister CS @ 330mls/ha

I am digressing, however. I would love to hear your thoughts on what an extra tonne in yield per hectare is worth to you as a farmer, along with any other topics on your mind re forage brassica’s.
A few shots of various forage brassica crops…












Frontier-PPrimary ProductionForage Brassicas


Comments 8

  • Norm Thomas 24 Jul 2013

    Great pictures. They certainly show the variation in crops and the weed competition that occurs under different conditions. I suppose the obvious question is the cost/benefit of pre (and post) emergence chemical applications. If your "favourite brew" as outlined cost $50/ha for instance to put on, would the benefit of an extra 1T/ha DM yield cover the cost - so many factors to consider - class of stock grazing, initial weed pressure, ground conditions for utilisation etc etc. A clean, tidy, weed free crop is always a lot less stressful to look at every day when you are moving the tapes!

    • Fenton Hazelwood (Moderator) 24 Jul 2013

      Norm, thank you for your reply and thoughts.

      It is a hugely interesting topic for me.

      I did some lets say rudimentary return on investment figures of a pre-emergence program. Costs may vary slightly, but for the exercise am certain these will be in the ball park.

      My mentioned robust brew would cost some $115.00 / ha for the chemical, application extra... With a 2 T yield increase and using a figure of 21 cents per / kg / dry matter, the benefit would be some $420.00. Minus the chemical cost + application of say $30.00 / Ha, that gives a ROI of $390.00 / T

      This to me seems a very worthwhile investment, thoughts?

      Looking at a post-emergence program, of which would cost lets say around $146.00 / Ha of the more common post-emergence herbicide... Coming from a growing background, it is not so much the cost of the post-emergence product, it is the limitations that come with it, of weed spectrum (weed growth stage), residual issues with planting back into grass, transient whitening and a very narrow window of optimum application makes it.

      It is a giving as always with growing, at times a recovery job post-emergence will be needed if there has not been the opportunity for many reasons to run a pre-emergence program...

      In my book, the pre-emergence is by far the best agronomic choice for a financially viable forage brassica crop.

      Again, a very interesting topic....

      I still ponder often seed germ figures, seed vigour and the importance of soil conditions at drilling...

  • Andrew Hemming 26 Jul 2013

    I think the biggest problem with all brassicas is that the seed is to cheap.I hear it time and time again. Its only a summer crop or, can we take care of the weeds once the crop is off .In the waikato insecteside is realy important for leaf minor. You can spend a lot of time asking and looking at  brassica crops and its cnly the top 20% of farmers that can see the return on investment.Where if it were mazie at $400 a bag the bell goes off and the adtuide is, Ive spent a lot to get it this far,if it needs it, get it done.

    • Fenton Hazelwood (Moderator) 26 Jul 2013

      Andrew, great to hear from you and welcome to the BASF blog. Your view point is appreciated.

      I agree, at times when the perceived investment into a crop is not so high, the mind set for some may mean the yield etc is not so important. Potatoes for example, which is near 8+ K to get them in the ground planted only (Seed, Fert & Chemicals), means it is vital to have very good agronomic imputs.

      A healthier crop will ward of insect pressure easier, not saying an insecticide will not be needed, however it will be far easier to gain control of the insect being targeted.

      I am still an advocate that to get an extra 1000 Kg of dry matter valued at 21 cents per Kg will fund a robust pre-emergent and post emergent insecticide program should it be required

      An important topic this one all, share your thoughts and views please

      • Tim Geuze 01 Aug 2013

        The photos are very interesting. Large difference in dry matter produced. Suggest this has alot to do with:
        1/ paddock selection
        2/ soil fertility
        3/ soil prep.
        4/ soil moisture at planting
        5/ weed spectrum and pre-emerge product used.
        6/ post emerge weed spectrum and products used.
        7/ insect control.
        etc
        These will all have a large impact on the amount of dry matter produced from any crop grown. When i look at the  Vegetable Brassica  production around the country, we generally see consistant canopies accross the paddock and very good plant health and weed management. These growers understand that when growing intensive crops we must pay attention to the basic details and get them right in order to achieve a good return on investment. Clearly, their is a good return on investment when you get most of these things right the first time.
        It is all about having a plan and correctly taking the action when required.

  • Hans Pendergrast 01 Aug 2013

    We grow a kale crop for dairy heifers. In heifer farming the toughest months of he year are feb and march. All the young calves are on hand plus we "can't wait" until the 1st May when the big ones go home. The kale crop is critical to keep the big heifers off the grass and set the farm up for wintering of the calves. 
    Even though heifer farming earns nothing like 21 cents/kg DM. (after labour and animal health the figure is less than 14). we still benefit from growing a weed and insect free crop. The biggest cost is the cost of the land and there is no added value in our system to grow half a crop.
    Our weed and insect control is all post emergent (except for seed treatment) and is extremely effective.
    My query is do we change to pre-emergent weed spraying. The old saying " if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies to this query.
    You'd need to come up with some solid data that shows that pre-emergent spraying gives better yields that best practice post-emergent. Our biggest weeds are thistles (nodding, scotch and califorinan), inkweed and grass.




    • Wade Paterson 01 Aug 2013

      Hans I take your point that in your situation where you are growing kale  you are happy with the results you are getting with a post emergence spray. The problem weed spectrum that you mention will generally respond to post emergence chemistry. Also kale allows the use of some post emergence chemistry that cannot be used on swedes or turnips except in a salvage situation.

      However here in the deep south many farmers who are growing swedes and turnips generally have issues with a number of weeds and grasses that are not well controlled or controlled at all by post emergence chemistry but do however respond well to pre-emergence sprays. Given that the establishment phase is very important for getting a high yielding brassica crop removing competition for moisture and fertiliser from weeds and grasses during this time does pay dividends. I would suggest that this is backed up by the fact that at the recent Clinton Lion's brassica competition both the swede and kale sections were won by crops that had had pre-emergence sprays.

      One of the issues with post emergence sprays is that weed size is a major factor in getting a good result and coupled with the fact that post emergence chemistry in swedes and turnips does not control grasses or weeds such as shepherds purse, and twin cress means that this method of weed and grass control has its limitations.

      I believe that the adage "the fence at the top of the cliff is better than the ambulance at the bottom" definitely applies in growing a high yielding brassica crop.

  • John Haliday 20 Aug 2013

    In the Waikato and Bay of Plenty the trend in herbicides for many years on forage brassicas has been pretty much one way in favour of post emerge applications - seems to link in with Andrew Hemmings comment and the attitude that the majority wait till they see the weeds before doing anything about them. However the tide is beginning to turn slowly toward pre emerge combinations with the favourite being a tank mix of  800mls Frontier P and 400mls Magister with this pairing targeting fathen and willow weed which are the problem weeds in most cases. There is a farmer/contractor in Te Puke Ben Muir who has been at the forefront of changing growers toward this sort of approach. He says that he has seen many crops showing suppression with some of the post emerge products used and that these crops seem to struggle through the rest of the season . With Kale he comes back with some Attack insecticide and Banvel at about  4 weeks  to take out any weed escapes.

Tags

Primary ProductionPrimary IndustryPastureOnionsVegetablesLucerneCerealsFruitFrontier-PPeachesBarleyGrapesForage BrassicasWheatApricotsPasture weedsBerryfruitStonefruitMaizeNectarinesPristinePotatoes

Blog User Log in


 


 

Lost password?

 
Page Functions
Contact
Contact
Print
Print