SAC advisor, Kirsten Williams, has this advice for Scottish farmers who want to try growing fodder beet the New Zealand way. She writes:

The fodder beet roadshow with Dr Jim Gibbs through the Farm Advisory Service, had a strong theme of how to maximise the yield of the crop.

Many of the crops we saw on the field days had suffered from the recent frost and leaves had died back, to being non-existent in some crops. The leaf holds the protein and mineral, while the bulb is the energy source.

Without the leaf, we offer an imbalanced ration to livestock, which then requires supplementation. Maintaining this leaf through the winter, should be the focus for Scottish producers as we plan for sowing 2023 crops, this can be done through targeted nutrient application throughout the growing period.

Fodder beet agronomy has evolved from British sugar beet agronomy, but the drivers in the two crops are very different. The sugar beet looks to maximise sucrose production, but for fodder beet we want to maximise tonnes of dry matter and leaf retention.

In the UK, fodder beet is currently a minority crop, but there are elements of the production and utilisation we can learn from New Zealand, where it is a majority crop, to maximise our yields and returns.

We have a farm resource here that New Zealand farmers don’t have in farm yard manures and slurry, which can vastly reduce the requirement for fertiliser. These farm yard manures are a great source of nutrient and organic matter for the soil.

They are slow releasing, which break down in the soil over a number of years. Only 10% of the N in the manure is available for the growing crop, as shown in the table below. Fodder beet is a slow growing crop, from sowing to utilisation often being 240 days.

The slow releasing nutrients from FYMs, can often give the crop a boost throughout the later growth stages, depending on rainfall and climate, which can be seen from new leaf growth.

Total N (fresh weight) Available to the crop

Cattle FYM 6kg N/t 0.6kg N/t (old manure) 1.2kg N/t (fresh)

Pig FYM 7kg N/t 1.0kg N/t (old manure) 1.8kg N/t (fresh)

Broiler FYM* 30kg N/t 10.5kg N/t

*broiler manure higher due to high dry matter (60%)

We do need to be careful with organic manures and ensure GAEC rules are being complied with more info available at www.farmingandwaterscotland.org

Some of Scotland is in an NVZ (Nitrate Vulnerable Zone) and we need to be mindful of when applying N and the amount being spread. Trials in New Zealand are applying high levels of N to retain leaf, split over four dressings, with a final dressing in very late autumn.

For those in an NVZ, no N can be applied in the dates below. Similarly, for those in NVZs, be mindful of the maximum N that can be applied to the crop, this will depend on the previous crop, amount of muck, rainfall, etc.

Grassland Other crop

Moray, Aberdeenshire, Banff and Buchan Sept 15-Feb 20 Sept 1-Feb 20

All other NVZ areas Sept 15-Feb 15 Sept 15-Feb 5

We also need to think about what the ground can carry. Pulling this late application back to early autumn may be more appropriate for some high rainfall areas to prevent leaching of N and damage to the crop and soils.

We do have producers in Scotland growing beet in high rainfall locations and for this, having a contingency plan is essential if conditions turn poor. A step that some are using is to have shingle stones along the headland of the field.

This offers a dry lie for the livestock, giving them somewhere to get off the crop and ruminate. If conditions turn too wet, then some will turn stock off the fields until the weather settles. Others choose to lift the crop, which should store for six weeks if kept clean.

In my opinion, fodder beet has massive potential in Scotland to reduce costs associated with winter nutrition and bedding, to reduce the reliance on housing space and increase the production per hectare on farms.

There is no crop that has the same potential in yield of dry matter, or yield in energy that can be grown in Scotland. The more we can adjust and tweak our inputs and management to the crop, as the Kiwis have done, to maximise the yield, the more return we will get.

For fodder beet, the future is bright! But please ensure you get good support and advice on planning, growing and utilising the crop.