Costs stack up for primed seed, fodder beet trial shows

A fodder beet crop established at a Welsh livestock farm with primed seed and a late-season application of nitrogen fertiliser yielded 40% more forage than standard seed and two applications.

Roger and Dyddanwy Pugh winter graze progeny from their 60-cow Limousin and Aberdeen Angus-cross suckler herd on fodder beet at Crickie Farm, near Brecon.

In the 2024-25 growing season, they embarked on a trial through the Farming Connect Our Farms network to see if there were benefits from using primed instead of standard, unprimed seed.

See also: Grazing kale versus fodder beet: Which is best for youngstock?

Priming seed involves a process of pre-germination, drying and pelleting.

Forage and grassland specialist Charlie Morgan, was commissioned by Farming Connect to provide expert advice for the project.

He says the expectation from primed seed is faster germination, more uniform and faster establishment, and higher yield.

Crop nutrient requirements

The study also looked at the merits of meeting the crop’s nutrient requirements for nitrogen (N) throughout the season.

In a normal year, the Pughs apply 50kg N/ha at the end of May and the same amount again in mid- to late July, with 40-60kg/ha of this targeted at the seed-bed.

But for this project, a third 50kg dressing was applied in mid-September to meet crop need.

Modern varieties of fodder beet can utilise more N, Charlie explains. This is especially so for N applied later in the growing season, to enhance and improve leaf production and leaf quality.

This, in turn, improves the protein level in leaves, boosts root production, and offers greater protection under winter conditions, he says.

“The treatment results of the project clearly demonstrate that under good agricultural practice, a crop of fodder beet will utilise the N applied to crop requirement levels.”

Farm facts: Crickie Farm, Llangorse, Powys

Roger and Dyddanwy-Pugh © Debbie James

• 98ha farmed – 94ha owned and 4ha rented
• 238m above sea level
• Loamy soils
• 60 suckler cows
• 300 breeding ewes

Trial results

The Pughs grew Geronimo, a grazing variety with a dry matter (DM) potential of 16.5%.

Four different treatments were applied to a 4ha (10-acre) field. The primed and unprimed seed plots each received either two or three applications of N, each at 50kg/ha.

Analysis was carried out on samples taken in November 2024 and January 2025.

They showed that, on average, primed seed and three applications of N in combination produced a 40% uplift in yield over the standard seed crop that had no late-season fertiliser application.

Results were 25.42t DM/ha compared with 18.07t DM/ha.

Other data showed the primed seed receiving three applications of N produced:

• 29% increase in bulb yield over the standard seed crop with two N applications
• 10% increase in bulb yield over the primed seed crop with two N applications
• 23% increase in leaf yield in the standard seed crop with three N applications
• 18% increase in leaf yield in the primed seed crop with three N applications.

“The primed seed was faster to establish and gave a more even canopy, which was able to capture more light, compete with weed competition better, and consequently have a longer growing period.

“This has clearly been recorded in the results of the bulb yield,” says Charlie.

The additional 50kg/ha N also had a greater influence on leaf yields.

“Both the standard and primed seed have more leaf weight when the third N dressing is applied,” he notes.

“This additional leaf will protect the bulb more from frost damage and, if conditions are mild, will continue to supply growth to the bulbs.”

Cost benefit

Although primed seed is more expensive than standard, and extra N is an additional cost, it produces more forage and reduces the cost of production, as costings from the study show.

Based on the book value figure for bulb and leaf DM, the cost of production is:

• £62.67/t DM for primed seed in combination with the additional 50kgN/ha
• £67.16/t DM for primed seed only
• £68.08/t DM for standard seed and additional N
• £82.85/t DM for standard seed only

All plots received farmyard manure at 30t/ha – neither this nor lime applications is included in the costings, as these costs apply to future grass or crop production.

“The correct nitrogen, potash, phosphate, salt, sulphur and other trace elements were applied and all included in the cost,” Charlie explains.

The 40% uplift in yield when using primed seed and an extra dressing of N means more feed can be produced on a smaller acreage, he adds.

For Roger and Dyddanwy, the trial meant they grew more forage than anticipated.

This allowed stores to graze for longer, capturing a higher price when those 25 animals were sold at Monmouth livestock market in April 2025.

The cattle were turned onto the fodder beet in November at an average weight of 400kg and averaged 525kg at sale.

As well as achieving stronger stores, beef prices had further strengthened by the time the cattle were sold.

The additional forage also meant a further 50 younger cattle could be turned onto the fodder beet in March, reducing wintering costs.

There was a positive impact on labour requirements too. “It only takes 20 minutes a day to move the fence, and we provided silage twice a week, but the bales were in situ so that was an easy job,” says Roger.

In spring 2025, he planted a further 4ha (10 acres) of fodder beet, this time primed Lactimo seed, drilled on 1 May.

“We are unlikely to have gone down that route had we not seen the benefits ourselves during this study,” he admits.

Feed value of fodder beet from trial plots

The feed value of the different fodder beet plots was also examined, with samples taken in December 2024.

On average, a bulb metabolisable energy (ME) of 13MJ/kg dry matter (DM) was recorded in every plot.

However, crude protein (CP) was higher in the primed and standard seed plots that had received a third application of nitrogen (N) (see “Bulb analysis”).

Charlie points out that a standard concentrate feed would have an ME of 12.5MJ/kg DM and 16% crude protein. “The data from this trial show ME and CP better in fodder beet than bagged feed,” he says.

“The intakes are the only point to question: whether cattle can consume enough fodder beet to supply the necessary ME and CP.”

Later applied N also encouraged mineral uptake by the plants.