I know that you've already chosen your varieties, so I'm not trying to talk you into collards. This is more of a question to anyone out there that has tried collards and how they worked out for you. There seems to be some traits with this variety of collard, IFC (Impact Forage Collard) that may make a Northern result a lot different than a Southern result.
The red text was taken from the Green Cover Seed website. Black text is my comments or thoughts.
This 1st paragraph is under "basic info"...
Vernalization is required for collards to bolt (become reproductive) therefore planting anytime during the growing season will result in pure vegetative growth (no bolting from planting early like other brassicas??) Vernalization is a prolonged cold special that triggers a species genetic code within the plant to start reproducing. This is important because the longer a species stays in the vegatative stage, the more total biomass production potential. In fact you could plant collards in the spring and it they will continue to grow through that next spring before trying to reproduce. Collards growing point is protected close to the surface making for excellent regrowth potential after grazing. Premium forage produced by collard ranks it above many other options on the current market place in CP and digestibility (Green Cover Seed tends to be geared more toward livestock, so "digestibility" is not the same to deer as it is to cattle).
So, some of us have deer herds that utilize other varieties of brassica as soon as they emerge. We can plant them in the spring and they get eaten all summer. There's no need for a freeze for our deer to start eating brassica. It sounds like IFC could be an interesting addition to a mix that's broadcasted in mid spring into thin areas, or planted during that traditional brassica planting time of ~July.
2nd paragraph was from the "Disadvantages" section, although some of the disadvantages they cite may not be exactly a disadvantage to our application.
Brassicas can produce excellent quality hay but the biggest difficulty is getting the biomass to dry down effectively. Therefore haylage or grazing are more suitable uses. Collards biggest pest issue seems to be cabbage beetle, which can devour the leaves with extreme effectiveness when in concentrated populations. This species has a waxy leaf which can be difficult to get a good herbicide termination. So be sure to utilize a surfactant or sticking agent to insure the chemical adheres to the leaf surface. Glyphosate termination is not recommended as you won't likely get a sufficient kill so, be sure to use broadleaf specific herbicide. Mowing is not a feasible option for termination because this species will effectively grow back from the crown. Don't ever plant any brassicas in a field where canola will be grown due to potential disease issues.
Almost sounds like IFC is a bit gly resistant. Is that good or bad? Could we be able to control the unwanted weeds with gly while the collards survive?? Would IFC be a nice addition to a Roundup Ready plot?
The part about mowing not being an option for termination seems to be a good thing IMO. A lot of plotters rely mostly on mowing to control broadleaf weeds. I don't exactly agree with that because some weeds grow and re-seed so low to the ground that they cannot be mowed short enough to eliminate them, but none the less, it sounds like mowing IFC would not terminate the plot. Good or bad? I'd say a good thing. Plus, it sounds like deer cannot eat it to death like they can with a lot of other summer forages.
This last paragraph was taken from the "Tolerance" section.
Collards has proven itself to thrive within an array of seasonal extremes. For our northern producers, collards have been able to withstand conditions below zero for several days without any protection. Making Impacts one of the most winter hardy brassicas currently available. Leaves may wilt or burn around the edges but vegetation will remain green and viable throughout the winter (around here, pretty much anything that's green in the winter becomes deer food. Stuff they won't touch at any other time gets eaten if it's green...sedge is one example). On the other extreme, once collards large tap root sets into the soil profile, it can thrive during the hot, dry summers that many of us experience. Collards resilience and waxy leaves, will allow it to hold on through the harshest conditions until better days come. Collards can tolerate continued, low grazing pressure which explains why mowing is not a viable termination method.
In my region, winters are a roller coaster ride. Although it happens, we seldom have below zero temps and when we do have them, they don't last for days on end. We often have periods of temps in the 40s and even the 50s. So would IFC be a viable winter forage for areas like mine? I wonder.
I like the fact that it can tolerate low temps AND heavy grazing pressure. Seems to me that come spring, when the rains come and my other brassica varieties are eaten to dirt (mud), IFC would be a better soil protector with it's living taproot system.
I also wonder if IFC has the potential to become a difficult "weed" to eradicate from our plots if we have the need to do so.
More and more of us are not tilling these days, so tillage is not an desirable option for termination. Neither is mowing. What types of herbicides can we use to terminate it that won't also complicate our other planting options?
I've throw and mow broadcasted some IFC last month. A few spots were in a brassica mixture and a couple spots were pure IFC. I'll be anxious to monitor their vigor and use.
Am I the only one on this forum that has tried IFC for plots? I'd love to hear some input from other Northern (6B) guys. I'm not sure if Southern guys would have the same feel for this forage as Northern guys?? I'm not sure.
