Crop yields could be boosted by seaweed

[Bogweevil]

Liquid seaweed is a chelate IIRC? So I think that helps mobilise nutrients to stimulate root growth? A bit how blood moves oxygen around your body. I might be wrong but think its along those lines.

The seaweed mineral was supposed to be good in feed for foot rot.

Not a chelate to the best of my knowledge but it can contain cytokinins and other plant hormones as well as being a balanced feed with trace elements.

There is good evidence that seaweed preparations work, but less clear the every product will increase profits in every crop each year...

 

[Two Tone]

keeps coming back to haunt us, I rather suspect it will be no better than it was 30 years ago. possibly a booster when fields are short of Iodine

It is nothing like as simple as that. I’m not going to claim it will have benefits on all farms. Or to be more precise, not going to be of benefit to all farmers.
But there is something about it that works on some farms and it definitely works to our benefit here.
If you have a fertile, high yielding farm and are convinced that RB209 is correct, aren’t inclined to want to look more closely at saving costs and boosting yields even more, then carry on.
If you follow RB209, but get disappointing yields, then using a seaweed extract product could help you.
That is exactly what we have done here.
Our yields are now much better and our NPK usage has dropped dramatically.
N is down by 20 to 25%
We don’t actually use P&K here at all now, because it is locked up and we are unlocking it. This is done by using Sulphur and using Seaweed increases the rootball to help the plant extract it as it becomes available.
This is on this Cotswold, high calcium, iron to excess farm.

But it has also been clearly shown that looking in far more detail at the biology, chemistry and physics of most soil-types, the use of seaweed and other products can increase yields, whilst reducing fertiliser and making large savings in growing costs.

It mostly depends on if you are interested in it and want to understand the principles of how it works. There is nothing haunting about it, it’s just science.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

If your farm is lacking what seaweed has in it then it will most likely be of benefit.

The knack is to find out what you are lacking in the first place.

 

[MNBVCXZ]

It may be correct that it is no better than 20/30 years ago, however the majority of UK soils I suspect have increased there vulnerability during that time!

 

[Cab-over Pete]

That’s a very good point!!!