Fodder beet gains ground

WAY FORWARD: Rotorua agronomist Dave Wiltshire (right) and Kaharoa farm manager Wade Sutton with a planted fodder beet crop and the imported Spanish seed planter. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

Is fodder beet the next agrarian super food? Will the South Island visitor usurp more traditional forms of supplements for North Island growers?

Kaharoa dairy farm owner Stewart Milson is keen to take a punt with something new with his feeding systems this year to increase production and lower costs.

He is one of more than 25 local farmers who have planted out 160 hectares of fodder beet for the coming season.

The crop has proved popular in the South Island but has yet to be widely grown further north.

"We're always looking for ways to increase production and lower costs, Mr Milson says.

"South Island growers have had success with their crops of fodder beet and have been happy with the lift in their production.

"We recognise it is relatively new to the North Island and you need expertise to plant and grow it."

Working with Rotorua agronomist/farm adviser Dave Wiltshire, of Torrent Seeds and Services, Mr Milsom's first attempt has been to plant out 3ha.

"Dave is very, very good at growing crops and that gave us confidence that we had the right person and the right reasons to grow it," he said.

"We had been looking at changing our feed systems to lower the costs and increase production.

"Given that now we are looking at a sub $5 payout it could be a step in the right direction for us."

All going well the crop has the potential to produce 90 tonnes of dry matter, or 30 tonnes of dry matter per hectare.

In the past he has used maize silage as feed but fodder beet stacks up better economically, he said.

"The yields from fodder beet at 30 tonnes a hectare cost around eight to 14 cents per kg compared to maize at 38cents/kgDM delivered on farm.

"There's always a risk in growing crops but fodder beet's potential makes it attractive."

Mr Milsom's Jackson Rd farm milks 176 cows from an effective 60ha, which includes 55ha on the main farm, and a small lease of land in the neighbouring farm.

With next year's expected 90 tonnes of fodder beet the farm is targeting 80,000kg of milksolids.

"A lot of people have looked at it and kicked the tyres.

"Maize growers haven't had the success either but that may be down to the process not the crop - it needs to be planted properly - and you can't take any shortcuts with paddock preparation and spring planting."

He liked the fact that fodder beet can be planted in spring and ready for harvest in autumn.

If the autumn is late it can be left in the ground, or harvested, and stacked and stored for the following year, he said.

"Unlike turnips or swedes, it won't rot."

He would normally buy in 60 tonnes of maize silage each year, he said. "Here we are looking at 90 tonnes of fodder beet - we may not use all of it but it will not be wasted.

"It gives you a huge window in autumn to feed out later if you want."

Mr Wiltshire said fodder beet's low-cost, high-production formula made it an attractive alternative.

"Farmers are always conscious of costs and it gives them a real option of high-quality dry matter for stock feed," Mr Wiltshire said.

"It also gives farmers flexibility - of growing in situ, or lifting and storing the bulbs, up to 20-30 tonnes of dry matter per hectare which is two times as much as the average production of swedes, or three times as much as turnips.

"Only a small area is needed to get a good tonnage," he said.

As well as being a good yielding crop, fodder beet is hardy and frost tolerant, with an eight- to nine-month growing period, and can be stored for three months.

Insect pests, such as nysius and cutworm, have to be monitored and weed control is crucial.

A $50,000 vacuum seed planter imported by Mr Wiltshire from Spain will spread 60,000-140,000 seeds per hectare.

Fodder beet is distributed in New Zealand by three main companies - DLF, Seed Force and AgriCom.