A new kale/rape hybrid variety
Commissioned by British Seed Houses for press distribution
According to Mr Girdwood, the British Seed Houses variety, Swift combines the best of both worlds.
"It grew very rapidly, like rape, but had the winter hardiness of kale," he explains. "The crop performed better than any other brassica cover crop I have grown on the estate for as long as I can remember."
Mr Girdwood, who is head keeper at Sir Michael Strang-Steel's 9,000-acre Philiphaugh estate, near Selkirk, planted two acres of Swift last year following a disastrous kale crop.
"The kale germinated well after May sowing, but weeds like redshank, day nettle and fat hen soon took over, despite having applied herbicide. I had also put on slug pellets, as well as using bangers to scare the pigeons away," he says.
"By the second week in July, I had called an emergency meeting and it was decided that we would give the Swift a try. Other recovery crops, like mustard, were considered, but I was keen to have something that would stand well throughout the winter."
The failed site was sprayed off with Roundup, then rolled, and finally sown using a quad bike. Germination was tremendous, says Mr Girdwood.
"The weather was hot and humid, so growing conditions were ideal. After spraying with herbicide twice before sowing, and again in late July, the weeds never got a look-in," he reports. "My theory is that a late sowing like this provides its own form of weed control."
Before the kale and subsequent Swift crops were planted, the exposed, east-facing area about 500 feet above sea-level had been used for triticale, undersown with native canary reed grass. Game cover crops had been grown continuously for the previous five or six years.
Last year's Swift crop will be left in the ground to serve as cover for pheasants on the estate, which offers four let days each year and put down 3,000 poults in 2004. It will probably be cut down next spring, but a further one-acre plot will be hand-sown this June.
"In the past, we have found it hard to establish kale on this ground," says Mr Girdwood. "Like many other estates, game cover crops tend to be concentrated on the least productive parts of the farm. Therefore plants usually face challenging conditions, with a constant threat from weeds, slugs, flea-beetle and pigeons.
"Swift proved that it has a lot to offer on this estate. It stood up well and grew surprisingly quickly, providing excellent cover by the September."
Swift, which is commercially available for the first time this season, can be planted any time between April and August, says supplier Richard McGill, of Game and Country Enterprises, Selkirk. Recommended management is to treat the hybrid like forage rape. The variety can either be used as a main crop, or as a recovery crop, with a target sowing rate of 2.5kg/acre. The fertiliser requirement is about 150kg/acre of 20:10:10.
"Swift performs best in a firm seedbed, but it is aggressive, and there have been no problems with disease or weeds in the crops I have seen so far," Mr McGill points out.
"When it is sown early, or left to regenerate, it also offers seed for winter bird feeding. Like any other brassica, it probably best not to follow it with another, similar crop, but it will slot in well in almost any agricultural rotation."
The Swift crop on the Philiphaugh estate was planted using untreated seed. However to give enhanced protection, Ultrastrike seed treatment can be applied at very little extra cost, adds Mr McGill. It contains a flea-beetle insecticide (thiamethoxam) as well as two contact fungicides to combat pythium and fusarium. Ultrastrike also carries a bird repellent and trace element additive.
"It grew very rapidly, like rape, but had the winter hardiness of kale," he explains. "The crop performed better than any other brassica cover crop I have grown on the estate for as long as I can remember."
Mr Girdwood, who is head keeper at Sir Michael Strang-Steel's 9,000-acre Philiphaugh estate, near Selkirk, planted two acres of Swift last year following a disastrous kale crop.
"The kale germinated well after May sowing, but weeds like redshank, day nettle and fat hen soon took over, despite having applied herbicide. I had also put on slug pellets, as well as using bangers to scare the pigeons away," he says.
"By the second week in July, I had called an emergency meeting and it was decided that we would give the Swift a try. Other recovery crops, like mustard, were considered, but I was keen to have something that would stand well throughout the winter."
The failed site was sprayed off with Roundup, then rolled, and finally sown using a quad bike. Germination was tremendous, says Mr Girdwood.
"The weather was hot and humid, so growing conditions were ideal. After spraying with herbicide twice before sowing, and again in late July, the weeds never got a look-in," he reports. "My theory is that a late sowing like this provides its own form of weed control."
Before the kale and subsequent Swift crops were planted, the exposed, east-facing area about 500 feet above sea-level had been used for triticale, undersown with native canary reed grass. Game cover crops had been grown continuously for the previous five or six years.
Last year's Swift crop will be left in the ground to serve as cover for pheasants on the estate, which offers four let days each year and put down 3,000 poults in 2004. It will probably be cut down next spring, but a further one-acre plot will be hand-sown this June.
"In the past, we have found it hard to establish kale on this ground," says Mr Girdwood. "Like many other estates, game cover crops tend to be concentrated on the least productive parts of the farm. Therefore plants usually face challenging conditions, with a constant threat from weeds, slugs, flea-beetle and pigeons.
"Swift proved that it has a lot to offer on this estate. It stood up well and grew surprisingly quickly, providing excellent cover by the September."
Swift, which is commercially available for the first time this season, can be planted any time between April and August, says supplier Richard McGill, of Game and Country Enterprises, Selkirk. Recommended management is to treat the hybrid like forage rape. The variety can either be used as a main crop, or as a recovery crop, with a target sowing rate of 2.5kg/acre. The fertiliser requirement is about 150kg/acre of 20:10:10.
"Swift performs best in a firm seedbed, but it is aggressive, and there have been no problems with disease or weeds in the crops I have seen so far," Mr McGill points out.
"When it is sown early, or left to regenerate, it also offers seed for winter bird feeding. Like any other brassica, it probably best not to follow it with another, similar crop, but it will slot in well in almost any agricultural rotation."
The Swift crop on the Philiphaugh estate was planted using untreated seed. However to give enhanced protection, Ultrastrike seed treatment can be applied at very little extra cost, adds Mr McGill. It contains a flea-beetle insecticide (thiamethoxam) as well as two contact fungicides to combat pythium and fusarium. Ultrastrike also carries a bird repellent and trace element additive.