Field Testing of a Turnip Growing Protocol on New Zealand Dairy Farms

Summer droughts are a regular occurrence in central North Island districts of New Zealand, which causes pastures to wilt, lose their nutritive value and stop growing. The resulting summer feed gap depresses farm productivity (Clark et al., 1996). Turnips optimally sown mid-late October (more often sown in November or even December) are grown to fill this feed gap. Recorded average yields of 7.4 t dry matter (DM)/ha are below the economic breakeven point of 8-10 t DM/ha (Clark et al., 1996). A turnip growing protocol was developed from published data (Eerens & Lane 2004) and tested on commercial dairy farms