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'Energy-rich concentrated feed from our own country'
Dairy farmer Ton Ruiterkamp has been growing fodder beets for five years now. "It is a healthy and tasty product and that increases feed intake. On paper, the calculated ration often seems too fast, but our cows stay well on the manure."
A part of the fodder beets of the Ruiterkamp partnership was already dug up in September, but a large part is still growing nicely. "I expect our beets to recover nicely, despite a difficult start and a dry summer," says Ton Ruiterkamp. In partnership with his parents, he keeps 105 dairy cows on 69 hectares of land in Terwolde (Gelderland). He grows 56 hectares of grass, 11 hectares of silage maize and 2 hectares of fodder beets.
Beets are gaining weight
"We sowed the beets on April 9. The start was difficult, because shortly after sowing, there was a lot of rain and snow. In the end, there were fewer beet plants, because the clay soil was closed with a hard crust. After that, little or no rain." Ruiterkamp still hopes for a yield of 120 tons of beets per hectare. "We irrigated twice and our experience is that beets often recover considerably later in the season. We already had damage and fewer plants due to leatherjackets. In retrospect, the tons per hectare were not too bad, because the beets that were there became a lot bigger.'
Variety Selection
The choice of variety falls on fodder beet for a reason Rialto from LG. "Three years ago we had a different variety, but it turned out to be much more sensitive to leaf spot disease and gave more tare. The dry matter yield of Rialto was higher, despite its lower dry matter content. Because Rialto is a massive beet that yields many tons per hectare."
Last year, due to the tight seed availability, Ruiterkamp also sowed Caribou beets in addition to Rialto. "But this variety is not tolerant of rhizoctonia, which is why these fodder beets had too much head rot. So we swear by Rialto."
It milks well with fodder beets
The sizes are very satisfied fodder beets in the ration. "The fodder beet is concentrated feed from our own land. It is a healthy and tasty product and that increases the feed intake, production and contents of our cows. In practice, fodder beets fit into every ration. On paper, the calculated ration often seems too fast, but our cows stay well on the manure."
Feed fresh
For the best yield from fodder beets, the Gelderland cattle farmer feeds the beets fresh. Allowing beets to grow as long as possible gives a higher yield per hectare. "If you keep beets in the ground, you don't have to worry about them either."
The beets are harvested by contracting company Grandia in Terwolde. "There are more dairy farmers in our area who grow fodder beets for their cows. The contractor visits these farmers every two to three weeks to harvest a batch of beets." Ruiterkamp mounts a chipping bin on his shovel to shred the beets and unload them in this way into his feed mixer. "That works conveniently, without it costing too much labour."
