The demonstration farm project is around “strip tillage” cultivation of fodder beet.
In February-March this year, Scott put 350 lambs into an 8ha fodder beet paddock for five weeks.
“It was a case of utilising what we had and it was a lot better than the brown feed in the paddock next door.”
The lambs ate the high-protein tops and also chipped the top of the carbohydrate-packed bulbs. The paddock was then shut up again before it was strip grazed two months later by cattle – as per the original plan.
“Once fodder beet has a bulb, it’s indestructible. You can kick it out of the ground and it will still grow,” Linklater said.
While he did not weigh the lambs as they went
on to the crop, they were finished directly off the fodder beet at 40kg liveweight (18-19kg carcaseweight).
The previous year, Linklater had flushed ewes on the tops.
This season he is undertaking some trial work to quantify animal liveweight gains and the impact on overall crop yield of the additional early grazing.
The farm generally produces fodder beet crops with 30 tonnes/ha yields – 5t/ha in the tops and 25t/ha in the bulb. Linklater said the lamb grazing had the unexpected benefit of balancing up the crop for cattle, with slightly less bulb available, yet fully regrown tops. This meant the ratio of protein to carbohydrate was more favourable.
Lambs have a high demand for protein to achieve finishing growth rates. This can be provided by fodder beet leaf, Lincoln University scientist Dr Jim Gibbs said.
“However, the trade off is that autumn use of the leaf will radically reduce the leaf area available to generate the bulb.
"As bulb growth peaks in autumn, this usually results in a significantly reduced overall crop yield in late autumn-winter. If the bulbs are harvested in autumn this cost is avoided and this system can be very efficient.”
• If you are interested in using fodder beet for sheep production, consider joining the Fodder Beet Club – www.fodderbeetclub.co.nz. It is a new initiative, whereby participating farmers will group into local clubs and be invited to seminars and field days on fodder beet’s best use in your area, as well as access to fodder beet advice.
