Three years of trials by farmers in a Northland fodder beet group have produced some good crop establishment and yield numbers. Drought-affected dairy farms on the west coast were able to maintain milk production and on the wetter east coast fodder beet trials generated net margins of up to three times the quite hefty crop establishment costs.
More than 10 farms grew fodder beet this season. Facilitator of the beet group, Gavin Ussher of Clover Consultancy in Kaitaia, told a recent field day on Northland Dairy Development Trust’s Dargaville research farm that fodder beet was the most drought-tolerant forage crop. But as it was slow to establish, weed control was critical, and attention to detail important during seed bed preparation, at sowing and pre- and post-emergence.
The first experimental crop of beet on sandy country near Dargaville in 2010-11 suggested fodder beet had high yield potential and good tolerance to insects. The next year a crop on the same farm got to 24 tonnes/ha in 122 days and 35t/ha in 171 days. In 2012-13 five crops were grown with yields from 6t to 17t/ha.
Ussher said crop trash and plant litter at sowing could restrict germination. With the drought soil moisture was below wilting point but the beet crops still put on 50kg/ha/day.
At another field day, at the Balance Farm Environment Supreme Award-winning dairy farm of the Hutchings family at Okaihau, in Bay of Islands, cows were still break-feeding the 2ha of beet in early April.
The paddock was sown on November 4 with two types of drill, precision at 80,000 seeds/ha resulting in five to six plants/m2 and non-precision at 120,000/ha, resulting three to four plants/m2. The volcanic soil was pH 5.9 and Olsen P of 17 that had 5t/ha of lime followed by a base fertiliser of 500kg/ha potash sulphur super, 200kg of ag salt and 10kg of boron.
There was a side dressing in early January of muriate of potash, Sustain and boron.
Total nutrients applied were 66kg N/ha, 298kg K/ha, 40kg P/ha and 20kg B/ha.
The crop had three sprays of Beetrix and Goltix herbicides and some insecticides.
Yields were measured at 13.8t/ha after 120 days and 19t after 150 days, including 5.5t in the last month, or 162kg/ha/day.
The cost of establishment was $3000/ha, of which fertiliser and cultivation were about $850/ha each, chemical and application $687, seed and drilling $384 and lime $250.
There was virtually no wastage and the milksolids response from 19t/ha eaten was 1623kg/ha or nearly $13,000/ha in additional milk income. So the Hutchings cleared $10,000/ha and the feed cost them about 16c/kg DM, for the feed value of 13 MJME, better than almost any alternative.
