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Thousand Head Kale is a reliable and consistent variety. It is a medium height variety with good resistance to lodging and good winter hardiness. It is a particularly winter hardy variety and provides nutritious leaves even in the winter. There are two main ways of feeding to livestock – the first is strip grazing behind an electric fence which should be moved daily. It is advised to keep a close eye on the levels of wastage which will help determine when you move the fence. A grass runback area is recommended. The second way to feed to the livestock is zero grazing - cutting the crop with a forage harvester will help secure the maximum use of green feed with little waste.
Making the most of grass, planning winter forage ahead of time and focusing on heifers are three non-negotiables for a profitable suckler business this year and longer-term.
In episode seven of the Wynnstay Agri-hub podcast, Tony and I discuss what suckler beef businesses should focus on to enable profitability. Although input costs are unprecedentedly high, the current price of beef is buoyant, with good cull cow, finishing and store beef prices.
The importance of upholding soil health and sustaining its productivity for the future is essential. No matter what the enterprise, we are reliant on soil for all production, either to produce our crops or forage to feed livestock. Rising input costs have led to a greater emphasis being placed on the importance of fertile soils with good structure. A single crop can deplete soils of up to 5% of soil organic matter each year which can have a detrimental effect on soil health in the long term if organic matter is not replenished. Therefore, it is vital that measures are taken to conserve soil, which some may say is our most valuable resource. There are numerous ways
For cost-effective weed control in root crops the emphasis must be placed on pre-emergence application of herbicides. Every year we receive a large number of calls from concerned growers who have applied no herbicide at all and who are concerned that their root crop is disappearing under a sea of weeds. By this point, it is usually too late to save the crop!