Rock dust saves the planet

I’ve been very busy carrying out trials on this for thirty years.

The only thing I can quite definitely say about the whole business is that there is feck all money in it and if there is suddenly eleventy squillion tonnes of crap going on to farms there will soon be even less money in it.

About 7-8 years ago some bunch of cockwombles were going to spread 15,000 tonnes of cement waste from Rugby Cement only a stones throw from here. I was asked to get involved and, despite not wanting to do that, I did so that I could keep an eye on things. Bi-product Recovery they were called.

They couldn’t organise their own hair style so it went all arse backwards. They were just greedy, slack with paperwork and thought that farms would be a great dumping ground for the stuff, masquerading it as a great source of potash. Two of the top bods used to regularly meet for coffee in a cafe near here and openly discuss the fact that they were going to visit certain farmers that week and (I quote ) “get in before Pete Smith does”.
How do I know that? A good friend of mine runs the cafe and lurked about so he could send me details ??

It all folded, as expected. If some self appointed experts get hold of an idea like this, they’ll see £ signs and it’ll all be ruined whether it’s a good idea or not.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer

mo!

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
York
Is there enough of this material across the country or developed world to even do this?

Why not just dump the stuff in the sea instead using ships.
I don't understand the question. There is "stuff", it benefits the land and sequesterers carbon. Why does there have to "be enough?" It can't pull CO2 out of the ocean because the ocean is made of H2O?

Read the article again.
 

mo!

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
York
I’ve been very busy carrying out trials on this for thirty years.

The only thing I can quite definitely say about the whole business is that there is feck all money in it and if there is suddenly eleventy squillion tonnes of crap going on to farms there will soon be even less money in it.

About 7-8 years ago some bunch of cockwombles were going to spread 15,000 tonnes of cement waste from Rugby Cement only a stones throw from here. I was asked to get involved and, despite not wanting to do that, I did so that I could keep an eye on things. Bi-product Recovery they were called.

They couldn’t organise their own hair style so it went all arse backwards. They were just greedy, slack with paperwork and thought that farms would be a great dumping ground for the stuff, masquerading it as a great source of potash. Two of the top bods used to regularly meet for coffee in a cafe near here and openly discuss the fact that they were going to visit certain farmers that week and (I quote ) “get in before Pete Smith does”.
How do I know that? A good friend of mine runs the cafe and lurked about so he could send me details ??

It all folded, as expected. If some self appointed experts get hold of an idea like this, they’ll see £ signs and it’ll all be ruined whether it’s a good idea or not.
Is making money a bad thing?
 
I don't understand the question. There is "stuff", it benefits the land and sequesterers carbon. Why does there have to "be enough?" It can't pull CO2 out of the ocean because the ocean is made of H2O?

Read the article again.

Sorry, I mean is there enough of this material in locations that mean it is an economically viable way to attempt to combat climate change? It's hardly worth hauling rock thousands of miles for this surely?

Why not dump it in the sea, which contains carbon dioxide and is an ultimate carbon reservoir?
 

Bogweevil

Member

@Mounty
@Cab-over Pete

Really useful - thanks. There is a Scottish company called Remin that offer rock dust, waste from granite quarries, to amateur gardeners - as far as I know there is no proven benefit. I have always felt that people who hanker after more rocks in their soil might just as well plough a little deeper and mix in some subsoil.
 
Is making money a bad thing?

Absolutely not, but in situations like this it tends to override all agronomic and agricultural husbandry sense in my experience. Then the land becomes a dumping ground.
Remember, once it’s on the land it can’t be taken off it.
Millions of bits of plastic all over farm land from so called clean compost are testimony to that fact.
There are many, many sharks in the water who will gladly put money over what’s right.
 

martian

DD Moderator
BASE UK Member
Location
N Herts
We've put a lorry-load or two of ReMin's rock dust into our compost heaps for the last two years. It certainly activates the compost (basically FYM and tree surgeons chippings) when we stir the windrows. There's nothing you can measure to show that this is a good idea...it feels right and we've got some cracking crops where we spread the stuff. The slopes of volcanoes are often covered by vegetable growers as the soil is so fertile, despite it often being a dodgy place to hang out.
 

Mounty

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
That will be a tough sell at those prices.
The analysis, published in the journal Nature, estimates that treating about half of farmland could capture 2bn tonnes of CO2 each year, equivalent to the combined emissions of Germany and Japan. The cost depends on local labour rates and varies from $80 per tonne in India to $160 in the US, and is in line with the $100-150 carbon price forecast by the World Bank for 2050
 

Lincs Lass

Member
Location
north lincs
I don't understand why the stuff can't be used in cement or aggregate or something similar? No doubt there is some technical reason though.
That dust is very similar to the steel works slag dust that Ive used for block paving ,I cant see how they can call it a waste product .
Basalt is volcanic ,same as the Giants causeway in Ireland
 

Chae1

Member
Location
Aberdeenshire
Jebus. If it's basalt it must be harder than wood pecker lips and would take so long to break down it must rival the intended lifespan of the Sun?
They still don't supply a analysis of what it consists of. A few years ago they were trying to sell it to me for £25/t. Now there giving it away and loading/spreading it for free.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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    Votes: 77 43.5%
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    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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