
Early forage shortly after harvest
Quick obtaining of fodder is possible when growing stubble catch crops. They are sown immediately after the forecrop is harvested, i.e. in July and August, and remain in the field until October or November. We can obtain an additional source of fodder in the fall of the same year. Depending on the composition of the mixture, such a catch crop can be mown for green fodder for direct feeding, intended for ensiling or used for animal grazing.
By sowing stubble catch crops until the end of July, we have a lot of room for maneuver when choosing the species to cultivate. Legumes (e.g. lupines, vetches, peas), brassicaceae (e.g. fodder cabbage, stubble turnip), grasses, sunflowers, millet, buckwheat will work well during this period. An interesting proposition are corn varieties with a very low FAO number (130-140), which, under favorable conditions, can be sown in July, e.g. after the winter barley harvest, and harvested in late autumn for full-value silage.
A little later, until August 5-10, you can sow blue phacelia, oil radish, oats, peas and fodder cabbage. In late sowings For the latest sowings (until approximately August 15-20), you can use white mustard, blue phacelia and oil radish.
Mixtures of spring cereals with legumes are very eagerly sown by farmers as stubble catch crops, especially for ensiling. Oats and/or barley are usually combined with field vetch, field pea, serradella, lupine (e.g. mixture: spring vetch 65 + field field 75 + oats 30 + spring barley 30 kg/ha). Such a grain and legume base can be supplemented with sunflower seeds, phacelia or buckwheat. There are many possibilities.
The use of species such as mustard or radish in a catch crop intended for fodder is possible, but they should not be the basic ingredient. Brassicaceae are better suited for direct grazing and are less often used for silage. According to reports from breeders, they are not always willingly taken by cattle and their value is debatable. Such feed is rather used to feed fattening animals or heifers.
When deciding to use the popular white mustard, remember that once it enters the flowering phase, it quickly becomes woody and its nutritional value decreases. A similar principle applies to other dicotyledonous species, such as phacelia and sunflower – feed produced from flowering and spent plants is poorly consumed by animals.
Mixtures sown in stubble catch crops will not replace corn silage or haylage in their value, which is due to, among others, from low dry matter concentration. When grazing green fodder from catch crops, it is recommended to add hay or straw.
An interesting proposition from an increasing number of seed companies are mixtures based on grasses with a fast growth rate – primarily Westerwold ryegrass, usually with the addition of clover and/or vetch. Such a mixture sown early enough in July or August will be suitable for harvesting in the same year in autumn, so it can be treated as an intercrop.
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Sowing buckwheat after barley in July, i.e. two crops in one year
First spring feed
Another idea for obtaining additional fodder is a winter catch crop, sown in late summer or autumn and usually harvested in April and May. The winter catch crop can be used for pasture after the plants reach 15-25 cm in height, harvested for green fodder and ensiled.
The simplest solution is rye, sometimes triticale, to which it is worth adding a legume species to improve its feed value. Usually it is hairy vetch (winter), you can also use incarnate clover. Such a combination in the proportions of winter vetch 40 + incarnation clover 20 + rye 60 kg/ha is called the Sącz mixture .
Instead of rye, you can sow any of the grass species together with vetch and clover. The mixture with perennial ryegrass is the Poznań mixture , and with multiflower ryegrass – the very popular Gorzów mixture . You can also add rye to the Gorzów mixture, which is especially common on weaker soils.
Winter brassica species, such as rapeseed and turnip rape (also called "brachina" after the name of a popular variety of turnip rape), can also be sown in the winter catch crop. Especially in the past, the so-called perko, a cross between winter turnip and Chinese cabbage.
Mowing for green fodder should occur no later than at the beginning of earing of grain/grass and before the flowering of legumes. The mixture of rye and vetch intended for silage is harvested when the rye is fully eared.
Intercrop Sowing quantity (kg/ha) Rye 140-180 Rye + hairy vetch 100+40/85+65/50+80 Hairy vetch + incarnate clover + perennial ryegrass (Poznań mixture) 45 + 20 + 18 Hairy vetch + incarnate clover + multiflower ryegrass (Gorzów mixture) 45+18+18 Gorzów mixture + rye
medium soil: 30 + 50
weak soils: 20 + 70
Hairy vetch + incarnation clover + winter rye (Szecka mixture) 40+20+60 Source: Wilczewski E. 2020. "The impact of farming on the environment." p. 602. In: Cultivation of plants, vol. 3 (Kotecki A., ed.). Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences Publishing House, Wrocław, pp. 626
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Advantages and disadvantages of catch crops