Choosing the right summer forage brassica and beet crop starts with knowing what job it needs to do. We look at our key brassica and fodder beet varieties for 2026/27, including Marco, Barkant, Rifleman, Mainstar, Kea, CleanCrop Bulb Turnip and Geronimo Fodder Beet.
Bulb turnips
Marco (55-65 day maturity): Fast summer feed – Marco is a quick-maturing turnip, generally ready to graze in around 55–65 days. It suits situations where you need quality feed quickly or want to get the paddock back into pasture sooner.
Barkant (70-90 days): Maximum bulk – Barkant takes a little longer than Marco but produces plenty of high-energy feed. A good option where yield is the priority and you have around 70-90 days before grazing.
Mammoth Purple Top (90-110 days): An old school single-graze turnip producing large round bulbs and useful leafy feed, generally ready to graze from around 12–14 weeks.
Leafy Turnips
Pasja II (42-55 days): Ready to graze in as little as 42 days for quality feed, leafy turnips like Pasja are quick to establish and produce high-quality leafy feed with little emphasis on bulb development. They suit short feed gaps where rapid growth, good utilisation and a quick return to pasture are the priority.
Rape
Rifleman (70-90 days): NEW Rifleman is a very leafy forage rape with strong regrowth after grazing. It suits summer and autumn grazing systems where you want to get more than one feed from the crop.
Mainstar (70-90 days): Mainstar is a proven forage rape with good regrowth, palatability and aphid tolerance. A reliable option for high-quality summer and autumn feed
Kale
Kea (50-220 days): NEW Kea offers high dry matter production with a good leaf-to-stem ratio and strong regrowth. It can be used for earlier grazing as little as 50 days post sowing or carried through for a high-yielding autumn or winter feed.
Fodder Beet
Geronimo (200 days): Geronimo is a high-yielding fodder beet suited to building a large bank of feed for late autumn and winter. With medium dry matter bulbs, strong top growth and very good disease tolerance, it can be grazed in-situ or lifted and fed whole or chopped. Geronimo is generally sown in spring and takes around 200 days to maturity.
CleanCrop
CleanCrop Bulb Turnip (90-110) days): Combines productive turnip feed with the ability to control key broadleaf weeds using the CleanCrop system. A useful option where weed pressure could otherwise limit crop establishment and yield.
At a glance
| Variety | Type | Best for | Ready to graze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marco | Turnip | Fast summer feed | 55–65 days |
| Barkant | Turnip | Maximum bulk | 70–90 days |
| Rifleman (NEW) | Forage rape | Leafy, multiple grazings | 70–90 days |
| Mainstar | Forage rape | Reliable multi-graze feed | 70–90 days |
| Kea (NEW) | Kale | Flexible, high-yield feed | 50–220 days |
| Geronimo | Fodder beet | Big autumn/winter feed bank | ~200 days |
| CleanCrop Bulb Turnip | Turnip | Weed control | 90-110 days |
Not sure which forage brassica fits your farm?
Talk to our agronomy team about sowing date, sowing rates, seed treatments, feed timing and the best brassica or beet option for your farm.
