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Brigadier

Fodder beet - Beta vulgaris - Vioederbiet - Futterrübe - Betterave fourragère

Sowing rate

80.000 seeds/ha

Season

Early spring

Sowing depth

2-3 cm

Row distance

50 cm

Fertilizer

Depends on your soil

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Brigadier is most suitable for strip grazing due to:

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  • Bulbs sit high up out of the soil, which means low tare and easy accessible for animals

  • Soft bite due to low dry matter content makes it suitable for all kinds of animals

  • Abundant healthy leaves give good weed suppression and extra dry matter yield

  • High sugar level makes is very palatable

  • Suitable for milk- and beef cattle, sheep, deer and other animals

  • Brigadier breaks the traditional weed and pest cycle of brassicas

  • Relative low use of nitrogen

  • Palatable forage stimulates extra high total intake by animals

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An additional advantage of fodder beet in general is their ability to substitute sodium (Na) for potassium (K) in nutrient uptake. This makes fodder beet one of the few crops suitable for cultivation on saline soils, which contain high levels of sodium.

Fodder beet seed can be divided in two groups; monogerm seed and multigerm seed. Monogerm varieties can be precision drilled but multigerm varieties have to be singled. It depends on the shape of the beet if fodder beets can be harvested by machine. The storage life of fodder beets improves through a late harvest, the leaves removed down to the base of the leaf petioles and by avoiding damage.

BRIGADIER

This is a polyploid traditional mangel beet with orange flesh. Fresh yields up to 140 tons per hectare are not an exception. Harvesting can be done by hand or by machine and soil tare is low. The huge leaf production stays fresh and healthy until the moment of harvest. Brigadier has a dry matter content of around 12% and the beets are very suitable for storage. Its roots are more above the soil (65%) than average fodder beets enabling easy access to the crop when strip feeding. This is a better option for grazing and it is a softer bite, which is more suitable for feeding younger stock.

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