Roughage tour Fodder beet - Week 15
Dairy farmer sows barley with fodder beets
Due to the high kVEM yield, fodder beet is becoming increasingly important in the roughage strategy of dairy farmers. The acreage of fodder beet in the Netherlands is growing every year.
Dairy farmer Ruben Marijnissen, participant in the Boerenbusiness Roughage Tour, has been growing fodder beets for years. ''Last Friday (week 14) the fodder beet Tarine was sown. The plot is very sensitive to dust, so we sow 50 kilos of barley. When the fodder beet has reached the leaf 3 stage, we spray the barley in between, so that it does not compete with the beet."
''The plot was fertilized with 41 cubic meters of cattle slurry and 25 tons of solid manure to prevent dusting. We did not like the option of spreading solid manure later to act as a blanket against dusting. Heavy equipment has to be brought into the country again," continues Marijnissen.
The plot was worked with a construction advisor in combination with a rotary harrow and seed drill. "We don't plow, because the chance of dusting only increases. With all these measures I hope for a good start of the fodder beet."
To prevent dusting, 10 to 15 cubic meters of cattle slurry can also be sprayed over the fodder beets. ''In the Veenkoloniën, an exemption has been issued to drive out above ground. That works very well to prevent dusting'', adds Ludwig Oevermans, roughage specialist in the Northern Netherlands of Limagrain.
Erik van der Deure
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