Growing a kale crop can provide a boost to fodder reserves on some farms. It can be high-yielding and is sown in May/June and grazed from October until March. The yield varies depending on growing site and weather, but generally ranges from 8t to 10t DM/ha. It will reduce feed costs, and labour associated with it can be reduced by setting up the grazing system so that the fence only needs to be moved once daily.
There are a number of benefits to animals grazing kale. As the animals are outside, they are accustomed to the weather conditions and can adapt quickly to grass in spring. Animals also tend to put on frame rather than condition and this means that animals will thrive very quickly when put to grass in spring. In-calf suckler cows are also much fitter as they are constantly on the move and calve easier as a result. Animal performance from beef bulls in Grange and dairy heifers in Moorepark have seen weight gains of 0.7kg/day on kale.
Kale requires extra labour during the winter; moving fences and checking stock daily. You also need good fences and a strong electric fence to make sure it is grazed properly.
It’s a good idea to place a line of bales of silage in the field at sowing time and then feeders can be moved with a fence at feeding time in winter. Animals also need access to 1ha/LU of a lie-back area in order to meet cross-compliance requirements.
The variety chosen on Tullamore farm was Maris Kestrel. This variety was chosen because it has been proven to perform well under Irish conditions, it has a high dry matter yield and also has a high leaf-to-stem ratio.
The sowing rate depends on the sowing method . If sowing via the broadcast method, sow 2kg/ac to 3kg/ac; if direct drilling, sow at 1.5kg/ac to 2kg/ac. Kale requires high fertility levels and optimum pH is 6 to 6.7. You will need to spread four bags/acre of 10:10:20 at sowing time and top-dress with two bags CAN/acre later.
Tullamore sowing rate: paddock was sprayed with glyphosate pre-ploughing, ploughed and direct drilled at 2.2kg/acre.Tullamore fertiliser: 4 bags/acre 10:10:20 on 10 June at sowing time, 2 bags/acre 27.5 CAN on 5 July, pH of kale field was 6.9 – hence no lime required.The flowers are poisonous to cattle and it’s important not to graze the crop if it has started flowering
Grazing plan
Kale can be grazed from October until early March. On Tullamore Farm it was grazed from 1 November until 1 March. Grazing of the crop needs to be finished by this time of year, as the flowers are poisonous to cattle and it’s important not to graze the crop if it has started flowering.
Silage bales were placed in the kale field in June at sowing time and extra silage bales were also been fed during the kale grazing period. The fence was moved 1m on a daily basis, allocating 9kg DM of kale to cows and 4kg DM to weanlings. Silage was being allocated at the rate of 2kg/DM/cow or weanling each day.
During periods of frost and snow last winter, the strip wire wasn’t moved until kale had thawed, generally around midday or later. Snow and frost can lead to a yellowing and discolouration of the crop and this can sometimes wither away and die after frost and snow has thawed. All stock have access to a lie-back area, but generally lie along the fence line where kale is being grazed. Cows tend to do more damage than weanlings as they are a lot heavier. On Tullamore Farm, weanlings did minimal damage to the ground and poaching was kept to a minimum.
Kale growing at Tullamore Farm last November. \ Ramona Farrelly
Boluses
The 51 in-calf suckler cows were bolused with two boluses containing iodine, copper, cobalt and trace elements. Tails were clipped before they started grazing. These cows grazed the kale crop until mid-January when they were brought indoors in advance of calving.
Weanlings also received boluses before starting to graze kale. These weanlings continued to graze the kale until mid-March, when they went straight to grass without having been housed at all during the winter months.
This article first appeared in the Irish Farmers Journal Feed Guide magazine.
Growing a kale crop can provide a boost to fodder reserves on some farms. It can be high-yielding and is sown in May/June and grazed from October until March. The yield varies depending on growing site and weather, but generally ranges from 8t to 10t DM/ha. It will reduce feed costs, and labour associated with it can be reduced by setting up the grazing system so that the fence only needs to be moved once daily.
There are a number of benefits to animals grazing kale. As the animals are outside, they are accustomed to the weather conditions and can adapt quickly to grass in spring. Animals also tend to put on frame rather than condition and this means that animals will thrive very quickly when put to grass in spring. In-calf suckler cows are also much fitter as they are constantly on the move and calve easier as a result. Animal performance from beef bulls in Grange and dairy heifers in Moorepark have seen weight gains of 0.7kg/day on kale.
Kale requires extra labour during the winter; moving fences and checking stock daily. You also need good fences and a strong electric fence to make sure it is grazed properly.
It’s a good idea to place a line of bales of silage in the field at sowing time and then feeders can be moved with a fence at feeding time in winter. Animals also need access to 1ha/LU of a lie-back area in order to meet cross-compliance requirements.
The variety chosen on Tullamore farm was Maris Kestrel. This variety was chosen because it has been proven to perform well under Irish conditions, it has a high dry matter yield and also has a high leaf-to-stem ratio.
The sowing rate depends on the sowing method . If sowing via the broadcast method, sow 2kg/ac to 3kg/ac; if direct drilling, sow at 1.5kg/ac to 2kg/ac. Kale requires high fertility levels and optimum pH is 6 to 6.7. You will need to spread four bags/acre of 10:10:20 at sowing time and top-dress with two bags CAN/acre later.
Tullamore sowing rate: paddock was sprayed with glyphosate pre-ploughing, ploughed and direct drilled at 2.2kg/acre.Tullamore fertiliser: 4 bags/acre 10:10:20 on 10 June at sowing time, 2 bags/acre 27.5 CAN on 5 July, pH of kale field was 6.9 – hence no lime required.The flowers are poisonous to cattle and it’s important not to graze the crop if it has started flowering
Grazing plan
Kale can be grazed from October until early March. On Tullamore Farm it was grazed from 1 November until 1 March. Grazing of the crop needs to be finished by this time of year, as the flowers are poisonous to cattle and it’s important not to graze the crop if it has started flowering.
Silage bales were placed in the kale field in June at sowing time and extra silage bales were also been fed during the kale grazing period. The fence was moved 1m on a daily basis, allocating 9kg DM of kale to cows and 4kg DM to weanlings. Silage was being allocated at the rate of 2kg/DM/cow or weanling each day.
During periods of frost and snow last winter, the strip wire wasn’t moved until kale had thawed, generally around midday or later. Snow and frost can lead to a yellowing and discolouration of the crop and this can sometimes wither away and die after frost and snow has thawed. All stock have access to a lie-back area, but generally lie along the fence line where kale is being grazed. Cows tend to do more damage than weanlings as they are a lot heavier. On Tullamore Farm, weanlings did minimal damage to the ground and poaching was kept to a minimum.
Kale growing at Tullamore Farm last November. \ Ramona Farrelly
Boluses
The 51 in-calf suckler cows were bolused with two boluses containing iodine, copper, cobalt and trace elements. Tails were clipped before they started grazing. These cows grazed the kale crop until mid-January when they were brought indoors in advance of calving.
Weanlings also received boluses before starting to graze kale. These weanlings continued to graze the kale until mid-March, when they went straight to grass without having been housed at all during the winter months.
This article first appeared in the Irish Farmers Journal Feed Guide magazine. 
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