Seaweed For Grassland.

[Kiwi 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?

Definitely worth a try, in my opinion not much ever hurts, but also there are few figures to back any of this witchcraft up

You'll know exactly what I mean, with lime, and it has a measurable effect with pH.
In Sterling though, most of the benefits to the farm are largely indirect.
There is "dairy effluent digester" available here and I'd suspect it is largely molasses.. and possibly some lactobacillus..
I am experimenting quietly away with lots of things but not too keen to attract the scorn that goes with it: "what's the active ingredient?"
Always keen to share what I know, or think I know!

 

[Whitewalker]

Emerald Isle limited google it

 

[awkward]

molasses Epsom salts and seaweed is what I would like to try early in year. help to deal with tetany and boost microbe activity. but need to improve ph first

 

[Dead Rabbits]

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.

Wouldn't even attempt to milk cows here without feeding kelp. Dry cows in particular. It makes life easier by keeping the animals healthy. Our vet/medicine bills are ridiculously low as well as death loss. It pays its way and then some.

As far as spraying it on the ground, we don't have a cheap enough source to make it feasible. It would be just the ticket though. Low Selenium and calcium soils here.

 

[Dead Rabbits]

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.

Y'all are so lucky to live by the sea. We pay almost a dollar per lb for dried kelp.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Y'all are so lucky to live by the sea. We pay almost a dollar per lb for dried kelp.

I do know how lucky I am to be farming where I am, some of it's luck.... but it's a bit of a "no-brainer" in terms of climate, recreation, and lack of competition!
There is probably law against harvesting more than enough for your garden, I don't ask or wait to be told... one day the secret will be out, by then I should have had enough free lunches courtesy of the tide.. but it wouldn't be regulated /expensive if it was no use, would it?

History says it was commonly used around the world as a soil conditioner, animal health tonic but suddenly the chemical revolution put a stop to such malarkey; helps the sale of coal into Newcastle I expect..
Likewise, I would definitely lose a lot of my margin farming the "conventional" way, simple livestock farming on a small
acreage, with all the costs of doing so.

That's probably why many of my posts concerning kelp sound like I'm selling it, because I couldn't do what we do without the advantages it brings.

 

[hillman]

@Kiwi Pete interesting have you measured the quantity of grass grown over the yr to do a comparison against the "modern " methods of bag and bag ?
Live weight gains on stock?

Sorry for questions but it's really interesting

 

[Bones]

A friend of mine gets egg shells from egg breaking company , the ground looks good , don't know if it would be as good as seaweed,

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Emerald Isle limited google it

Lots of info there, thank you

 

[Kiwi Pete]

@Kiwi Pete interesting have you measured the quantity of grass grown over the yr to do a comparison against the "modern " methods of bag and bag ?
Live weight gains on stock?

Sorry for questions but it's really interesting

Sorry @hillman - had 40 something alerts and missed this one
Well, no not really - not as far as proper trials go.
I do know roughly what tonnage of drymatter we grew here, last year, and it was ahead (based on milk output) of the dairy farm next door by about 1.5TDM/ha.
And, ahead of the district average by about 3.5TDM/ha...
A fair part of that extra growth maybe simply due to a different method of grazing management - the bag+bag folk tend to shave out their grass to low levels each grazing, whereas I aim to clean each paddock out every 80 days/3rd grazing, and allow a 40 day recovery after. So that helps.
That way I have better root systems, get more soil Carbon, and have a lot more flexibility and resilience - which all means more grass grown. (Actively discouraged by fert. reps)
Lambs - we sold 770 lambs and on average they put 320g/day across the season, and the friesian bulls averaged 1.08kg/day, arriving midsummer.
I always seem to be understocked last year, had no stock until after we took silage and baleage off so it was great quality feed.
Peak growth rates as measured across group averages per fortnight were 440g and 1.28kg respectively (no supplement of course) so I'm happy if I can keep that going

What could I do with fertiliser and minerals and drenches etc? I don't know, but I don't wanna find out!

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I just re-read my post and realised how snobbish it sounds!
But, I would do any of those if it would improve my bottom-line - I really can't see it.
I'm not certified organic, but that option's open. It all seemed like a great idea until I read between the lines of TFF folk, bound by regs and rules, and that goes against my grain!!
I just see so much of conventional practice as being unnatural behaviour: put on acidic fert that then needs balanced, put on N that grows more denitrifying microbes and makes my paddock hungry for more, worm my stock to select for the half% that are resistant... and residues kill my earthworms and beneficials.... antibiotics, which wipe out so many good ones to kill the few bad ones
..they stop looking like cures and begin to look like expenses! ( much moreso if you can farm without them )
...so yep, I'm a bit different, but each to their own!
I try to be as open minded as possible in my farming, love doing all that fun stuff for other people! Have ploughing and drenching both lined up this week.

 

[exmoor dave]

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.
View attachment 588936
(Salted gorse in the foreground)

I'm really impressed by the salted gorse!

You've had a very good kill........ maybe put a match to it now..... I seriously wouldn't be able to help myself

Swaling season starts TOMORROW



When salting the gorse, do you need to really cover the plant well in solution?

 

[neilo]

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.

So you were going to apply the magic stuff to help Spring growth, but you didn’t get round to it and the Spring growth happened anyway? Did it happen to warm up at about that time?

Maybe I’m just tainted with cynicism after several years of seeing a conman seaweed salesman convince my father that using his product would cure all ills, even to the extent that effective vaccines for known problem diseases like IBR could be stopped.

Save your man’s money @Cab-over Pete , then use it to apply some Fibrophos instead.

 

[exmoor dave]

Re- sea weed, I farm right along a coast line, but on top of high sea cliffs, so there's no access to the shore line from the farm unfortunately.

There is a sand beach to the east of us in town, I think the council do actually scoop all the weed up to keep the breach clean, don't know what happens to it though.

But it would be absolutely full of plastic, is that a problem for you Pete?
I imagine the seas are cleaner around you?


I was out on the kayak last Sunday, the week previous had been quite rough so the sea was rammed full of weed....... Did not help the fishing exploits

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Re- sea weed, I farm right along a coast line, but on top of high sea cliffs, so there's no access to the shore line from the farm unfortunately.

There is a sand beach to the east of us in town, I think the council do actually scoop all the weed up to keep the breach clean, don't know what happens to it though.

But it would be absolutely full of plastic, is that a problem for you Pete?
I imagine the seas are cleaner around you?


I was out on the kayak last Sunday, the week previous had been quite rough so the sea was rammed full of weed....... Did not help the fishing exploits

How's your puncture, Dave?
No, very didn't find any plastic, this kelp down here would be hard for much to cling to really.
It's too smooth, like big elephant trunks.
It still wouldn't break down in water, even "magic" water so it wouldn't get further than that stage if you screened it out

 

[Kiwi Pete]

So you were going to apply the magic stuff to help Spring growth, but you didn’t get round to it and the Spring growth happened anyway? Did it happen to warm up at about that time?

Maybe I’m just tainted with cynicism after several years of seeing a conman seaweed salesman convince my father that using his product would cure all ills, even to the extent that effective vaccines for known problem diseases like IBR could be stopped.

Save your man’s money @Cab-over Pete , then use it to apply some Fibrophos instead.

It's been a record dry spring down here, no real rain since 11th of August (until today)

Shades of northern hemisphere

 

[exmoor dave]

How's your puncture, Dave?
No, very didn't find any plastic, this kelp down here would be hard for much to cling to really.
It's too smooth, like big elephant trunks.
It still wouldn't break down in water, even "magic" water so it wouldn't get further than that stage if you screened it out

Haha!
All healed up, actually the cleanest wound I've had lately!
Which considering I dipped my hand in the Bristol channel for a good while to numb it before pulling the hook out, I'm quite surprised it didn't go bad.
Whole back of my hand did go blue with a bruise thou!


Our sea weed here isn't really kelp, I'd have to take a photo to show what it is

 

[awkward]

So you were going to apply the magic stuff to help Spring growth, but you didn’t get round to it and the Spring growth happened anyway? Did it happen to warm up at about that time?

Maybe I’m just tainted with cynicism after several years of seeing a conman seaweed salesman convince my father that using his product would cure all ills, even to the extent that effective vaccines for known problem diseases like IBR could be stopped.

Save your man’s money @Cab-over Pete , then use it to apply some Fibrophos instead.

sorry to hear that but seaweed here doesn't come in bottle. our experience are positive and have been for many years. admitted some cowboys out their selling crap.

 

[mar]

I am next to the coast and around this time of year in rough weather the seaweed would be washed up on the shore, in the past it would have been collected and spread on the fields. I intend on collecting it to spread on grass but need to get a loader or something to load it with as it is hard work by hand. People who's land is next to the shoreline would have rights to cut seaweed on a section of the shore.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I am next to the coast and around this time of year in rough weather the seaweed would be washed up on the shore, in the past it would have been collected and spread on the fields. I intend on collecting it to spread on grass but need to get a loader or something to load it with as it is hard work by hand. People who's land is next to the shoreline would have rights to cut seaweed on a section of the shore.

That's far too logical to have any place on TFF.
JFDI say you were worried about your stock choking on it, or the smell, when the sea police show up

(Would actually love to see it go to court, I will fly over myself and represent you, pro bono of course...)

I just go for a stroll with my crook and load it on the trailer, hose it at the neighbour's milking shed on the way past, some French tourists asked me what it was for last time.
When I said I let my cattle eat it, they all scratched their heads...