NOW IS the time when sowing forage turnips fills the minds of Scotland’s many lamb finishers.
After a cold spring, soil temperatures are now warming up and early June is the ideal time to sow swedes, according to Limagrain UK’s Martin Titley.
He is urging sheep producers to take advantage of what remains a low cost but high yielding and high energy winter feed for ewes and finishing lambs.

The Scottish Farmer:

North Country Cheviot hoggs on Lomond swedes on Dougal Hamilton’s Blairgowrie farm produced a record crop, which was estimated to provide three weeks of extra feeding

“Swedes cost around of £403 per ha – or £62 per tonne of dry matter – to produce, yet produce 80 to 90 tonnes of feed per ha,” he told The SF.
“They can be grazed from October to February, depending on the variety.”
Limagrain’s field trials have highlighted the high-energy content offered by modern swedes, at 12.8 to 13.1 MJ. “These energy values are higher than most other forage crops, making them one of the lowest cost but highest yielding and feed value options available,” he added.
Able to be grown on a range of soils, swedes also do well in moist and cooler conditions, making them ideal for Scottish sheep farming areas. One vital piece of advice is to drill them into a level seedbed on free draining fields that can be easily grazed.
Seed should be treated against flea beetle damage and sown into a soil with a pH around 6.5. “It is worth selecting a disease resistant variety. There’s some high performance varieties that are both clubroot and powdery mildew tolerant,” added Mr Titley.
Limagrain’s varietal trials show that its popular varieties, Gowrie and Lomond, produce dry matter yields 18% and 11%, respectively, higher than the old favourite, Ruta Otofte.
Both were bred by the James Hutton Institute in Scotland – but, the variety should also suit the system, said Mr Titley.
“Lomond and Gowrie produce high dry matter yields and consistent performance for feeding from November to January.
“Invitation, meanwhile, has the highest dry matter content of all varieties on trial at 12.6% and a relative dry matter yield 6% above the control, but it is especially winter hardy so it’s suitable for long keep systems and feeding in January and February.
“It’s also worth considering the feed value in the leaf – varieties with large leaves provide extra grazing potential.
Why swedes?:

High energy winter feed (12.8-13.1ME/kg DM)
Sow April-June
Growing costs around £403/ha
High DM yields (7-10t/ha)
Ideal for finishing lambs and winter maintenance
High yielding powdery mildew and club root tolerant varieties available.