Early sowing and irrigating of rape crops in cool temperate environments boosts forage yield potential

Forage rape is commonly grown on Tasmanian dairy farms to provide feed during periods of low pasture growth and/or low nutritive value. In these regions, forage crops are generally sown between early spring and late autumn and are commonly rainfed, though farmers may apply a single irrigation at sowing. While the effect of water availability on forage yield has been well characterised for regions in north-western Tasmania (Neilsen 2005), there is a dearth of information for other regions in Tasmania. Hence, the objectives of this study were to identify optimal sowing times for, and determine the extent to which a single irrigation at sowing influences productivity of, rainfed brassica crops across the dairy regions of Tasmania.