Seaweed For Grassland.

[Cab-over Pete]

Aye-up,

Years ago we used to get calcified seaweed up from Devon and spread for a sheep farmer. Then some EU ruling stopped them hoovering it up off the sea bed.

Farmer is asking if there is anything like it these days.

Any ideas?

Cheers, Pete.

 

[Adam@Rumen]

Must still be a way as there's quite a few seaweed based rumen buffers in the cattle industry. Believe most of them come from Iceland

 

[Coximus]

Crushed oyster shells are chemically very similar, but expensive - I had 10t at 50 a tonne a few years back but it was a one off from a friend of a friend. Lime plus lots of trace elements and the sheep preferentially graze the 2/3 of the field spread with it, so must be something good.

Bone meal is meant to be similar but I think that's regulated now?

 

[hendrebc]

@Kiwi Pete makes some kind of soup with seaweed and sprays ot on his fields. Cant remember any more about it though i saw it in a thread somewere late at night

 

[yellowbelly]

@Kiwi Pete makes some kind of soup with seaweed and sprays ot on his fields. Cant remember any more about it though i saw it in a thread somewere late at night

https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/quick-fixes-bodges-and-creations.13784/page-314

Now to get a day without wind and on with this yummy stuff

(well the liquid component) and then I can top the drums up for next round

All you need now @Cab-over Pete is a bigger one of these hung on the back of the Big A..........

 

[foobar]

Wouldn't it be easier to just feed the seaweed to the animals? that way they get the minerals they need and any excess will be excreted onto the land?

 

[Cab-over Pete]

https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/quick-fixes-bodges-and-creations.13784/page-314

Now to get a day without wind and on with this yummy stuff

(well the liquid component) and then I can top the drums up for next round

All you need now @Cab-over Pete is a bigger one of these hung on the back of the Big A..........

Does it work?

 

[ollie989898]

Surely if you want trace elements and the like fibrophos is the kiddie?

Do Yara still do that coated salt stuff?


Best feeding minerals to the animals directly if you ask me......

 

[Cab-over Pete]

I put Fibrophos on there every year with good results, but on the old permanent pasture fields they think the seaweed improved things no end.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

I suppose basic slag could do a job for them, but I think it's a bit too coarse and I wonder just how much gets into the soil and how much just sits there in hard lumps forever.

 

[ollie989898]

I suppose basic slag could do a job for them, but I think it's a bit too coarse and I wonder just how much gets into the soil and how much just sits there in hard lumps forever.

I know what you mean, always looks like horrible stuff, I know it's full of all the goodies but I always worry it must have heavy metals and all sorts in there, probably wrong though. All depends on the haul, it's not too bad to down here.

My other favourite is injecting or dribble bar pig slurry. Got to be careful though.

 

[hendrebc]

https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/quick-fixes-bodges-and-creations.13784/page-314

Now to get a day without wind and on with this yummy stuff

(well the liquid component) and then I can top the drums up for next round

All you need now @Cab-over Pete is a bigger one of these hung on the back of the Big A..........

Thats the one thanks @yellowbelly

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Does it work?

Aye, this place has had little else in the way of inputs on the land or into the stock since the last fella bought it in 2002.
A company here make liquid products which are excellent, but likely no use for you..
www.agrisea.co.nz
Or you can get Acadian seaweed powder from Canada which would likely be more cost effective.
The liquids are more 'alive' than the powders IMO which (apart from the cost) is why I make my own. I know @Dead Rabbits feeds kelp products straight to the cattle.
It just gets sprayed on around here, then everything gets it (as long as it eats) although I did drench some lambs last year with some, it's easier to just give them access to chopped up fresh stuff in a trough.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I put Fibrophos on there every year with good results, but on the old permanent pasture fields they think the seaweed improved things no end.

That's what I have here, by UK standards it's old pasture. None of that 3 year stuff anyway!
Seaweed contains lots of stuff Pete, but very high in natural gibberellins, calcium (obviously) and selenium.
I think it contains just about a full complement of amino acids plus just about every other trace element, it seems to make older pasture a hell of a lot more productive anyway.
Claimed benefits for stock, other than the obvious drop in other animal health costs, are said to be buffering the rumen and also reductions in methane output (don't know) but I wouldn't p!ss around with it if I didn't see it workin for me.

Basically it just feeds the soil biology and helps balance things out, there are of course some pretty big claims made for any product but it does help to unlock quite a bit of the other fert that's been applied over the years that nothing can "get".
Everything in seaweed is available and it is sitting on a beach 5 min away not a hard decision for me, what to do.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Ok, thank you. I'll pass that info on.

What a great place this forum can be.

 

[yellowbelly]

Does it work?

Well the grass looks good in his pic

What rate do you put on per acre @Kiwi Pete ?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Well the grass looks good in his pic

What rate do you put on per acre @Kiwi Pete ?

Depends where it's going on yb, and what I want to achieve with it really.
Ahead of my lambers, probably 10 litres per acre or something, so they'll get plenty of minerals.
Young reseeds would likely be similar..
The commercial stuff recommends 5-10 l/ha
Mine only costs my time so I just drizzle it around, concentrating it on all the slopes and low fertility areas in the hopes it will make up for the urine and dung that goes elsewhere. I don't worry so much about areas of high fertility though as they are good enough already!

I'm going to try an experiment down the back of the farm with seawater as a diluent for the seaweed brew, lower the DM of the pasture and hopefully the stock will graze it out better (is the plan)

Always conjecture with this type of thing:

"Mining the soil"
"what's the NPK of it?"
But to see it is believing, for me at least, everything ticks along, nothing cries out.

It's also really good for getting other things (roundup, liquid fert products etc) into plants, you can halve the rate of herbicide if you apply with this because the plants soak it up better and faster.
Likewise with animals, I use only half rates of cider vinegar and seaweed together (when I can be bothered, haven't for months) as a tonic

 

[awkward]

funny thing had a tidal surge around here few winters back and anywhere the tide washed over grew extremely well afterwards. also get great results from feeding seaweed to cattle. thought about spreading dried and chopped stuff on paddocks to see what would happen.but didn't bother yet @ over 800€ ton.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

As a wee addendum, I will also put on some reject molasses and some old pasture-aid rumenzyme stuff that dad had left over, when I apply it this year. Everything helps, if it's cheap it's better!
Future- I'd like a drum of fish fert to go on with it early, for some spring N.
Ideally you'd put on light rates little, and often, throughout the season, like following the cows with urea- split it up. Or you could use it with liquid N, for good response

I planned on having mine on early-early to help spring growth, but the growth happened and I wasn't geared up. So will just relax and apply it when I get the time.
Should be able to cover an acre per minute so it's not exactly stressful!!
@Cab-over Pete If you want any more info feel free, it makes grass a funny green.
This paddock was sprayed the day I got my sprayer finished and steers came out, a few days ago.

(Salted gorse in the foreground)

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Looking good.

I think the best thing is to get my customer to have a look on here.

You mentioned molasses, I was only wondering today if spreading/spraying sugars on to chopped straw might make it more appealing to soil microbes when incorporated?