Invitation - PDF | Barenbrug

Invitation is a late maturing, yellow-fleshed swede, with very high bulb and leaf yield. It gives valuable winter feed with excellent animal health for sheep, cattle and deer.

High yield & disease tolerance

Invitation has excellent total DM yields with good dry rot tolerance and resistance to club root and powdery mildew. Invitation is not recommended as a second crop.

Total DM yield, dry rot tolerance and club root infection level

Pg 146 - Invitation Swede- table.png — *From 8 Southland trials, from 2006/07 to 2011/13. **From a Southland trial in 2008/09 under moderate to high dry rot pressure in a 2nd crop paddock. *** From a Southland trial in 2010/11 under moderate to high club root pressure in a 2nd crop paddock. NT = Not tested. Statistical significance lettering given for 5% LSD level, cultivars with same letter are not significantly different.◇= Provisional results. Domain was in 2 of the 8 trials.

Late flowering

Invitation is very late flowering, so the crop stays vegetative longer into spring than other cultivars. This minimises the risk of animal health problems associated with 'bolting' swede crops, as seen in spring 2014 in Southland. No issues were reported on Invitation swedes.

Swede flowering scores*

Pg 146 - Invitation Swede- table 2.png — *Results from 2 trials in Southland sown 2008 and 2012. Statistical significance lettering given for 5% LSD level, cultivars with the same letter are not significantly different. Scored on a 1 - 9 basis. Where 1 = full flowering swede crop, 4 = stem elongation, green seed head appeared, 7, small degree of elongaton, 9 = no sign of stem elongation.

Good leaf yield

Invitation produces high leaf yields showing a significantly higher leaf percentage than other cultivars in trials. This lifts the overall protein level of the crop and is helpful when introducing swedes into an animal's diet, particularly for younger stock.

Bulb & leaf keeping

Invitation has shown high bulb keeping ability and leaf retention in trials, helping maintain its feed quality and quantity through to the end of winter.

Using Invitation

^{Invitation swede is marketed by Barenbrug}