Winter crop options

Get more bang for buck from winter forage

Forage brassicas have advanced a long way since they first became part of the winter diet on Kiwi farms in the late 1800s.

But one thing hasn’t changed – the critical role they play in keeping animals well-fed when grass simply doesn’t grow.

With another spring sowing season on its way, why not take the opportunity to step up to three of the most recently developed brassica cultivars available in the local market?

All three have been bred and tested in New Zealand, and each offers unique benefits for anyone who wants to get the best bang for their buck.

Option 1 – Kea is an intermediate kale bred for high dry matter yield and leaf percentage. Its key features include better feed quality, utilisation and animal performance.

Recording significantly more dry matter than other similar cultivars, Kea’s total yield averages over 40% leaf when winter grazed from a spring sowing.

It’s also highly flexible, because it can be grazed from as early as 50 days post spring sowing, for a safe multi-graze crop; to 220 days, with no loss of quality.

Option 2 – Saddleback is a yellow-fleshed swede bred specifically to tolerate high disease pressure in Southern regions without compromising on yield. It has repeatedly delivered on this goal particularly against common brassica diseases in Southland.

Low dry matter bulbs hold their quality well through winter, making Saddleback palatable, flexible and simple to graze even when conditions change.

Option 3 – Rifleman is a dual-purpose rape that is exceptionally leafy with a high regrowth ability for multiple grazings over summer and autumn from a spring sowing, or can be used as a single graze option during winter from an autumn sowing.

An intermediate mid-maturity cultivar, it’s ready for grazing 70 to 90 days post sowing, depending on conditions, and offers excellent feed quality with a high leaf to stem ratio.

Post grazing, regrowth is leafy with new leaves developing from low on the main stem delivering high quality feed for stock performance during Summer and Autumn. Expect two to three Summer and Autumn grazings depending on management and seasonal conditions.

Rifleman yields well from a late Spring/early Autumn sowing and can also be used as a single graze option providing quality forage throughout the Winter.

Find out what farmers say about our brassica range here: Case studies