Sunday, November 4, 2007 - 4:30 PM
11-7

Growth of Brassicas for Forage in Mississippi.

Brandon Shankle, David Lang, and Jimmy Ray Parish. Plant and Soil Science, Mississippi State University, 117 Dorman Hall, Box 9555, Mississippi State, MS 39762

Ten varieties of Brassicas sp including forage cultivars and traditional turnip Brassica rapa and mustard greens Brassica juncea grown for home consumption were compared for forage herbage mass over the winter of 2006-2007 at Starkville, Mississippi. Varieties included were ‘Appin', ‘Barabas', ‘Barkart', ‘Barnopoli', ‘Bonar', ‘FL Broadleaf', ‘Pasja', ‘Dwarf Essex', ‘T-Raptor' and ‘Purpletop'. Plots were seeded at 5 kg ha-1 on 27 September 2006 and fertilized with 400 kg ha-1 15-5-10 at seeding and following each harvest in November, January and March. Brassicas were clipped for dry matter yield by removing all top growth at a height of 8-10 cm within 0.25 m2 quadrats (two per plot) and dried at 55oC for 7 days. The highest yielding forage variety was T-Raptor with 13.6 Mg ha-1 followed by Pasja at 12.1 Mg ha-1 and Dwarf Essex rape was third at 10.3 Mg ha-1. Yield of other forage varieties ranged from 5.7 Mg ha-1 for Barabas to 9.1 Mg ha-1 for Appin. Herbage yield of household varieties was 8.3 Mg ha-1 for FL Broadleaf and 8.9 Mg ha-1 for Purpletop. Dwarf Essex rape continued to grow into April and May while all others ceased significant above ground herbage growth. Rainfall was adequate through February (> 100 mm per month) but precipitation in March and April was less than 30 mm each month which likely curtailed late spring growth. Forage quality analysis data will be presented for crude protein and In Vitro dry matter digestibility. These results indicate that Brassica sp may offer a productive forage crop for southeast USA livestock producers during the winter months.