Purple Top Turnip

Turnip and other Brassicas can provide grazing at any time during the summer and fall depending on the seeding date. A promising use may be for late fall grazing. These crops maintain their forage quality, if not headed, well into the fall even after freezing temperatures and may be grazed in the Upper Midwest into November. Many turnips can be grazed twice to permit utilization of top growth and roots. Turnips are a great cover crop to plant between or before cereal crops.

*Based on a 1-10 scale. 1 = Poor : 5 = Average : 10 = Excellent

Turnips have a high sugar content making them extremely palatable for livestock such as cattle or sheep. They also have a high moisture content and are packed with protein making them an excellent choice for winter grazing. Turnips are extremely winter hardy which is a huge advantage if planting in the late fall.

*Based on a 1-10 scale. 1 = Poor : 5 = Average : 10 = Excellent

One of the biggest issues with turnips is the high glucosinolates level. If turnip forage is fed for long enough it can cause thyroid enlargement in young growing sheep and cattle. Livestock should not feed on turnip during the breeding season or after the plants have begun to flower. Nitrate nitrogen toxicity can be a problem, especially if ruminants are allowed to graze on immature crops or if soil nitrogen levels are high. The risk may remain for a longer period of time in autumn than in summer.
Insect/Nematode Risk: Turnip crops are attacked by two different flea beetles, which eat holes in the cotyledons and first leaves, chew stems and cause extensive plant loss.Turnip crops can also be damaged by infestations of the common turnip louse or aphid.
Crop Disease Risk: Turnip crops may suffer from clubroot, root knot, leaf spot, white rust, scab, anthracnose, turnip mosaic virus and rhizoctonia rot. in some cases, diseases can lead to crop failure if rotation or other control measures are not used. Resistant varieties are available for some diseases. To prevent problems with diseases, Brassicas should not be grown on the same site more than two years in a row. If clubroot is a problem, rotation should be six years.

*Based on a 1-10 scale. 1 = Poor : 5 = Average : 10 = Excellent

Like other Brassicas, turnip grows best in a moderately deep loam, fertile and slightly acid soil. Turnip does not do well in soils that are of high clay texture, wet or poorly drained. For good root growth turnip needs a loose, well aerated soil. When seeding into sod, it should be suppressed or killed, as the young Brassica seedlings cannot compete with established grasses. Once established, turnip will compete with most weeds.

*Based on a 1-10 scale. 1 = Poor : 5 = Average : 10 = Excellent