With prices doubling this year I’m hoping it urges more farmers to consider the alternatives. I’m going to be pulling back on our granular use and use foliar this year along with adding microbes to my slurry to retain nitrogen (20% more) and lower methane and ammonia emissions making it of a much higher nutrient value to my soil. Those microbes will out compete the bad ones and continue their good work in my soil. And I can counteract the effect of ‘mectins’ by adding a second ingredient, better news for the earthworms!
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@Edward ADAMSON you were asking whether people are considering using liquid seaweed to help reduce NPK fertiliser inputs this year? Just sticking the question here in case others have views... my understanding was that a bit like correct pH optimises nutrient efficiency, liquid seaweed does the same by allowing nutrients perviously locked up in the soil to become available. Not an expert though! I'm interested in it because we have low sodium here and issues with palatability and this would help. 3litres/ha on grassland apparently and not a huge cost.
Funny I thought digeatate came out with really high dry matter and was spread with manure spreader. Well that’s how I seen it in scotland! So it’s like a slurry here? Could that high pH amend your soils if you where at your sweet spot?
Digestate Dry matter 5.22%. PH. 9.08 N 7.20 kg/1000kgs PH. 0.46k/1000kgs P. 9.07kg/1000kgs Pasteurised@ 70C for1 hour
We’re cutting back on fertilizer and using some Chicken Digestate Soil analysis away will be interesting to see what they say
His website is a great source. I have a wee worm farm on the side as experiment to mix vermicast in with my FYM this year. They are incredible at breaking down waste product.
Good advice there 👍
Some good stuff from Niels Corfield on this
Brilliant. We are early days here but getting more microbes and carbon in the slurry definitely a goal we are aiming for to try and resolve our heavy bacterially dominated soils
I’m using a product from Biome Connect that utilise EM Microbes first coined by Dr Higa in Japan. I’ll use Actiferm in my slurry tank, on my bedding, and in my manure. Then efficie-N28 for fertiliser as a spray this year. The more I understood what the role of the microbes are, the more obsessed I got with learning about soil!
Sounds great Bronagh. What microbes are you putting in?
Oh that’s interesting. I heard nettles do make great fertiliser when left in water. I must do a wee one in and IBC tank of collected rain water. It’s just sitting there anyway!