home news forum careers events suppliers solutions markets expos directories catalogs resources advertise contacts
 
News Page

The news
and
beyond the news
Index of news sources
All Africa Asia/Pacific Europe Latin America Middle East North America
  Topics
  Species
Archives
News archive 1997-2008
 

Caledonian kale is no ordinary kale


New Zealand
October 13, 2015

Caledonian kale has been around for a while now, but there’s still nothing like it when it comes to providing a winter crop with both excellent DM yield, and high quality.

That’s the advice for farmers planning spring sowing in Otago and Southland from local Agriseeds area manager Riley Cooper.

“Most other kales force farmers to compromise between one or the other of these attributes but with Caledonian, there’s no downside,” Riley says.

It typically yields 12–16 tonnes DM/ha, and can reach 20 t DM/ha when conditions allow.

Greater yield potential means lower per kg DM cost, which is what farmers are seeking, but usually with kale this can come at the expense of feed quality.

Fortunately Caledonian has soft marrow stems which are more palatable and have higher ME levels, leading to higher crop utilisation and improved animal performance.

“Because the leaf portion of kale crops usually tops out at 4-5 tonnes DM/ha, two thirds of the crop’s yield comes from the stem. That’s why it is important to use a cultivar that offers high ME stems, especially if putting condition on stock over winter is an important goal.”

Where conditions allow for yields in excess of 10 t DM/ha, he recommends sowing Caledonian at 5 kg/ha.

“Trials have shown an increased yield of 9% over a 4 kg/ha sowing rate. An extra tonne of high quality DM for the cost of a kg of seed is a pretty good return.”



More news from: Barenbrug (NZ)


Website: http://www.agriseeds.co.nz

Published: October 13, 2015

The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originated
Fair use notice

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  Archive of the news section


Copyright @ 1992-2025 SeedQuest - All rights reserved