Northern Tablelands beef producer, Robert Perkins, trialled brassicas this year to overcome the traditional winter feed gap on his Ebor property - and he was very pleased with the results.

"The eastern fall area of the Northern Tablelands is probably best known for its ability to grow high quality pastures and turn off prime cattle," NSW DPI beef breeding technical specialist,  Bill Hoffman, said.

"Fertile basalt soils, a coastal influenced rainfall pattern and 900-metre plus altitude means temperate pasture species thrive in spring and summer," he said.

"But in winter there is little growth, meaning balancing feed supply and feed demand across the yearly cycle is challenging."

Mr Hoffman said Mr Perkins, Ebor, had been testing out an option to fill part of that winter feed gap as part of a project undertaken by the Ebor Beef Profit Partnership group.

"In 2007 Robert visited New Zealand on a pasture tour and was impressed by the way livestock producers there used brassicas as part of their year round feed plan," he said.

"He made a commitment to try out forage kale on his Ebor property."

Mr Perkin’s six-hectare brassica plot at "The Racecourse" produced nine tonnes to the hectare dry matter and was stocked with 140 head of weaners over two months from July 3 to September 2.

The weaners gained 0.2 kilograms per day liveweight and, using direct crop growing costs, each kilo of liveweight gain cost 59 cents - an excellent return on investment.

Mr Hoffman said many Northern Tablelands producers like Mr Perkins bought significant numbers of weaners in autumn because that is when they are available.

"Carrying them through winter is always challenging but the reward is that they are on-hand and settled in, ready to perform well in spring," he said.

"Robert will be doing it again next year but believes with better agronomic inputs he can boost the yield and make it more profitable."

Forage brassicas are members of the brassica family, which includes radish, turnip, Swedes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage.

Canola is an oilseed brassica which is not really suitable for grazing by livestock.

"The forage brassicas are mostly grown in cool temperate parts of NSW such as the Tablelands," said Mr Hoffman.

"They can be sown late summer to provide high quality feed in winter, when pasture quantity is limited and can provide quick and abundant feed, with high digestibility, energy, and protein.

"Robert used a small unimproved paddock predominately growing Cocksfoot which yielded very little productive pasture during the winter months," he said.

Preparation started in mid December when the existing pasture was sprayed out ready for sowing.

Costs were $439 per hectare (seed $67, herbicide $55, fertiliser $200, ground preparation and sowing $117).

A strip grazing system was used to control the grazing and maximise use by limiting losses to trampling.

No back fencing was used because there was no regrowth.

An important point to note is brassica crops, including the kale used at "The Racecourse", have been associated with animal health problems.

But these can be largely avoided by good agronomic and grazing management.

Careful monitoring of stock performance and behaviour will allow most problems to be identified quickly and rectified if necessary.

Mr Hoffman said Ebor producers reckoned any liveweight gain in weaners in winter was a bonus.

"There are other benefits in being able to carry large numbers of weaners in a confined area through winter," he said.

"It means the improved pasture areas on the rest of the property can be lightly stocked to allow a recovery phase."

More information can be found in the NSW DPI Agfact P2.1.13 Forage brassicas – quality crops for livestock production by Linda Ayres and Bruce Clements.

Contact Bill Hoffman, Casino, (02) 6662 2288.

Further reading

Forage and fodder crops