Turning cows into a patch of turnips may be another way to extend the fall grazing season.
Known as stubble or fodder turnips, the crop is fairly common in Europe but almost unknown in Western Canada.
“We see it as a niche that is going to fit for livestock production that a lot of new crops don’t fit,” said Andreas Grueneberg of Prairie Seeds in Leduc, Alta.
His company has experimented with turnips for three years in a variety of soil types and climatic conditions.
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Stubble turnip varieties have been developed specifically for grazing. The varieties come from the same family as Polish canola and can be direct seeded with conventional equipment.
They have green leafy tops with a white fleshy bulb, which has a purple crown and produces a softer flesh that cattle can bite off and chew without choking.
Grueneberg recommended seeding in early May. Cattle can start grazing within 60-90 days. Under favourable weather conditions and good management, a second grazing is possible when the tops grow back. Turnips can handle several degrees of frost.
The tops grow quickly and are ready for fall grazing when other pastures are finished.
Cattle can be trained to strip graze with electric wires. They have to learn what the turnips are, but once they understand, they pull up the plant and eat it whole.
This year about 100 people are trying small amounts by each planting one 25 pound bag.
“We see it as a small crop to supplement the grazing season,” Grueneberg said.
Sheep, beef and dry dairy cows can successfully graze them, but the animals need to be supplemented with hay or straw for added fibre to reduce potential health problems.
Turnips may contain glucosinolates and if fed to excess may affect the thyroid or cause anemia. The risk is higher among young animals.
They are not recommended for lactating dairy cows because the milk may have an off flavour.
Fraser Stewart, a retired researcher with Manitoba Agriculture, said trials on small plots found problems with nitrates.
He recommended testing the turnips before turning out livestock to prevent toxicity problems.
“As they are a very high energy crop, they need to be controlled grazed,” he said in an e-mail.
“It’s almost like turning the livestock out on a high-grain ration. You can founder them very easily.”
Jack Kyle, grazier specialist with Ontario Agriculture, said turnips can work well as a supplemental forage.
The leafy green tops grow about 75 centimetres tall and have good protein and energy levels. The bulbs are high in energy and dry matter measures at 10-12 percent.
Kyle said an Ontario producer plants four to six acres each year as part of a larger grazing program for his sheep.
“If the bulbs are small, the sheep pull them out of the ground or if they are large they will eat them out of the ground like a bowl,” he said.
