Hey Paul. Radish /turnips question

Seen your post on AT. Was wondering about you planting them. Assuming for cover and soil tilth. I have asked my agronomist at the coop about planting these on muy lighter soils for OM and N fixation, he always tells me I am to far north and it wont work. How is it working for you? I thought it would be a nice follow for small grain/early beans. Any advise? How bad is seed cost? How is germination? seeding technique

I plant turnips for the cattle to eat, fence in 35 acres of cornstalks, field road, and oats stubble for them to browse. The turnips are a good addition to the mix.

I've played with the tillage radish, they are impressive but the turnips fit grazing better.

One thing I learned, don't plant radish too soon, or they make no root, all seed!

Turnip I plant with the oats in early spring, not the recommended way, but works well for me.

Actually I plant oats, with a few peas in to add early N. I put a mix of plow down clover and alfalfa and turnips through the small seed box. All planted at the same time, soon as I can get in the field.

Swath and combine the oats, bale the straw, graze the oats regrowth, alfalfa, clover, turnips. Plant corn into it the following year. I do only 5-10 acres of that, but it really works well for my beef cows.

With my early planting, the turnips compete with the oats, so probably not perfect. I pulled 85 to 105 bu oats from all that mess tho, with no N added, so it can work. Straight combining is out as the leaves are in the way, but I need to swath anyhow.

I get my seed at Albert Lea Seed .house.

We can't do the radish after corn or soybeans, not enough time this far north.

I'd think the work fine after small grains? The last 2 years it was too dry, but typically....

I have heavy wet clay soils, and those crops don't like wet roots, so if you can get the right rain to get them started, they would like the lighter soil.

The year I messed up and planted radish with the oats early, they went to seed. No root. After combining, a lot of the seed regrew and turned into really good tillage radish. I have pics on the old camera, other computer, see if I find them later.

They plant like clover or alfalfa, not too fussy, not too deep. As always, precise planting you can get better stands and less seed needed, but the scatter and scratch methods work fine.

I can't say they work all the time to improve soils, as mine get grazed, but watching them grow for a few years, it seems like a reasonable concept. They love rich but dry soils, really get big and grow grow grow.

Paul