Establishing forage turnip in the pasture outdoor area as supplementary feed to gestating sows (OK-Net Ecofeed Video)

Summary

The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of establishing turnips and their potential as a nutrient resource and behaviour enrichment for the sows. Forage turnips can serve as behaviour enrichment to restrictively fed sows and have the potential to lower accumulated land use by reducing rooting activity. Theoretically, up to 40% lower feed ration might be replaced by forage turnips. However, there need to be enough forage turnips in the field in order not to risk poor sow body condition and weight losses during gestation and post farrowing. To increase the yield of forage turnips, they can be seeded in combination with white clover. A drill with doubled spacing (e.g. 25 cm) can lower the weed pressure.
The tool is applicable to farmers and advisors which raise pigs and have gestating sows. The information can be included in crop rotation planning and the outdoor grazing season.