Now There’s a Paddock of Swedes!

Ken Townley of Luisetti Seeds struggles to lift swedes grown by Jonathan Austin, Aroha Downs, Oxford

Ken fails to dislodge a particularly large swede with a swift kick.

Jonathan Austin has been growing swedes as a winter feed for a number of years at Aroha Downs, Viewhill, Oxford.  The swedes are break fed to cattle during the winter.

Swede paddocks at Aroha Downs are conventionally worked with Trifluralin and Magister applied prior to sowing.  Usually this is sufficient weed control, but this year, after a dry period, a lot of fathen came away and Radiate was applied to the crop.

Gaucho treated seed is sown and the crop is frequently monitored for springtail, nysius and aphids.

Insecticide is only used “as required” with an emphasis on trying to maintain beneficial predators.

Jonathan applies Vincent Luisetti’s “special fungicide brew” each year and this year also used John McCaw’s “special trace element brew”.

Below are the results of a dry matter analysis carried out on this crop by Canterbury Feed Assessments: