Gorilla Hybrid Forage Rape | Case Study with Farmer Phil™️

Fodder rape is an attractive and popular fodder crop for farmers due to its ease of production, the flexibility of its sowing date and its palatability at feeding time.  In recent years fodder shortages have become more of a common occurrence on farms due to dry summers, and additionally, tillage farmers are looking at cover crops that give a good return and that can fit into their rotation. Farmer Phil sowed Goldcrop’s new hybrid forage rape variety Gorilla last August after enquiring about Goldcrops cover crops and explaining that he had a fodder shortage; Gorilla provides the solution with excellent yields, good regrowth potential and improved animal performance.  Gorilla also has good disease resistance compared to other varieties.

Impressive Growth, Yields and Return On Investment

We witnessed tremendous growth that surpassed all our expectations.

• Farmer Phil broadcasted the seed at 4kg/acre and from the beginning was impressed with Gorilla, seen just 6 days later growing vigorously out of the ground.
• Pig slurry and protected urea was applied to the crop with a small section only receiving the slurry.
• An established crop of Gorilla responds well to nitrogen, this was demonstrated by Farmer Phil as the majority of the crop that had received the chemical fertiliser yielded exceptionally well growing 5.7 tonne of dry matter per hectare compared to the slurry only section of the crop that still yielded good for the nutrients it received at 4 tonne of dry matter per hectare.
• Gorilla is a greyhound crop. If you want it to run a good race you have to feed it well. Applying the fertiliser to a crop like Gorilla pays off due to the resultant extra tonnage produced.

Improved Animal Performance:

An advantage of Gorilla is it’s a really green leafy type of rape with a high leaf-to-stem ratio, therefore has a higher energy content and is a more digestible rape overall as it’s stem isn’t as hard which allows for the crop to be grazed out fully resulting in excellent utilisation. Animals grazing Gorilla can have better digestive health as the palatable stem adds more fibre into the diet.

 

“Never had cattle that heavy coming out of the shed”

• Gorilla’s high crude protein content of 18-20% is far superior to silage, therefore including it in the diet of growing young stock like Farmer Phil will lead to increased daily gains.
• Winter silage, wholecrops and beet are typically low in crude protein, which limit the crude protein in the animals diet over winter. Protein is essential for frame development of young animals.
• Gorilla also very palatable, leading to good dry matter intakes, as a result Farmer Phil’s wealings when weighed  had put on over double the amount in average daily gains in comparison to last year’s wealings.  

 

• At turn out to grass, his wealings were on average 34kg heavier than last year. Additionally, for the first time ever, Farmer Phil had six spring-born bulls that were on target for under 16 months bull beef again emphasising Gorilla’s feed value.

Valuable Additional Fodder

“Only for it (Gorilla) we would have been out of silage probably in the first week of January”,

“The saving grace for our fodder situation”

• Farmer Phil was very grateful that he chose to put in Gorilla as it reduced his demand for silage greatly. From October his yearling cattle were on a diet of 20% forage rape and 80% silage, increasing the amount of gorilla in the diet at the beginning of spring to get through the remainder of the crop.
• The Stewart’s plan to grow Gorilla Hybrid rape again this year to continue the excellent animal performance. To minimise the build up of clubroot, they will be moving to different ground and Zero grazing the crop to keep it in the diet.

 

For more information on Growing Gorilla Hybrid Forage Rape, Click here >>>

 

Article by Sean Howard, Goldcrop Ltd.