It’s a great time to reassess your winter feed budget and allocations. If you are running short for one reason or another; or you see an opportunity to put a break crop in your rotation for a winter feed etc then kale or rape would be a great fit for you.

Autumn brassicas like kale and rape are great for adding a bit more bulk feed for you into winter. Kale is an excellent choice from now until mid February if under irrigation. As daylight hours dwindle or in a dry land situation, switch to a high yielding forage rape like Spitfire rape.

This is also an opportunity to add companion species to help with transition and to add bulk. Adding a high vigour Italian or annual rye in the mix helps with ground cover at establishment but also gives you herbicide options and the ability to continue grazing the rye into the spring for silage or lambing once the rape has been eaten.

Key insects and weed issues need to be identified. Nysius and ASW are prolific at this time of year. These will severely damage germinating plants, limiting yield. Adding the correct insecticide at sprayout will help manage these.

Identifying mature broadleaf weeds before sprayout will help with making the correct advice as to which companion knockdown herbicide to add with Glyphosate while also keeping plantbacks in mind.

Keep an eye out for diamondback moth and white butterfly caterpillars as well as other pest and weeds as the brassicas start to get to the 4-6 leaf stage ready for spraying any pests and weeds present that will be competing for nutrients and moisture.

For anymore tips and advice please contact your local Carrfields Pastoral rep

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