Spraying milk on crops

Phil P

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North West
Just been reading the post on Twitter from chap whom sprayed milk on some pasture to give it a boost and promote soil bacteria. Think the rate was 10L/ha (100L/ha water rate). Pictures look good compared to the next pasture that didn’t get sprayed.
Has anyone tried this on arable crops? Maybe a tramline trial?
Whats the legality’s of it?
Just thinking outside the box a bit especially with N prices! This is milk out the tank though not from the supper market 😂.
what’s people’s thoughts.
 

Martyn

Member
Location
South west
Just been reading the post on Twitter from chap whom sprayed milk on some pasture to give it a boost and promote soil bacteria. Think the rate was 10L/ha (100L/ha water rate). Pictures look good compared to the next pasture that didn’t get sprayed.
Has anyone tried this on arable crops? Maybe a tramline trial?
Whats the legality’s of it?
Just thinking outside the box a bit especially with N prices! This is milk out the tank though not from the supper market 😂.
what’s people’s thoughts.
We spread a lot of milk waste across our ground and I can honestly say it out beats any artificial fertiliser, we use it arable ground to and you can see very noticeable difference where an area has been missed
 

Agriimark

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Worcestershire
We spread the waste from muller mainly on grass but trialed it on a standing crop of organic wheat this year with the vredo, reports so far are that its done the trick. Left an area unspread and there is a big difference.

20220505_143458.jpg
 

Phil P

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North West
Thanks for the reply’s it definitely sorted like it could be worked doing some tramline trials as I can yield map it and see if there’s any difference.
@Martyn what sort of rates are you applying to your arable land and at what growth stages? Thanks.
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
Just been reading the post on Twitter from chap whom sprayed milk on some pasture to give it a boost and promote soil bacteria. Think the rate was 10L/ha (100L/ha water rate). Pictures look good compared to the next pasture that didn’t get sprayed.
Has anyone tried this on arable crops? Maybe a tramline trial?
Whats the legality’s of it?
Just thinking outside the box a bit especially with N prices! This is milk out the tank though not from the supper market 😂.
what’s people’s thoughts.
10 l/ha rate won't cost much to trial.
To be honest, with chem and fert prices where they are it's cheaper than most applications I make.
It might make the straw break down quicker, thus releasing nutrients faster.
 

Bald n Grumpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Dairy plant washings wouldn't be as good as raw milk would it?
Detergent would kill good bacteria?
Sounds worth a try with the price of everything
 

Tim G

Member
Livestock Farmer
Going to have to try this, got about 200 litres of skimmed milk a week currently going to the pigs. That said, pig feed seems to be getting closer to the price of fertiliser so might be best keep feeding it.....
 

Cowcorn

Member
Mixed Farmer
Just been reading the post on Twitter from chap whom sprayed milk on some pasture to give it a boost and promote soil bacteria. Think the rate was 10L/ha (100L/ha water rate). Pictures look good compared to the next pasture that didn’t get sprayed.
Has anyone tried this on arable crops? Maybe a tramline trial?
Whats the legality’s of it?
Just thinking outside the box a bit especially with N prices! This is milk out the tank though not from the supper market 😂.
what’s people’s thoughts.
I wonder would antibiotic milk be as good ?? Theres always a load or two failing the test every week due to a treated cow getting milked into the tank and the co -op have to dispose of it .
Its not allowed to be fed to pigs either .
I havent sent down the tanker in years thank God but the last time it cost the insurance a hefty sum between the value of the milk and disposal .
Snag would be you would be very busy with the sprayer to get it all out before it went sour and curdled and started to smell .
 

daithi

Member
I wonder would antibiotic milk be as good ?? Theres always a load or two failing the test every week due to a treated cow getting milked into the tank and the co -op have to dispose of it .
Its not allowed to be fed to pigs either .
I havent sent down the tanker in years thank God but the last time it cost the insurance a hefty sum between the value of the milk and disposal .
Snag would be you would be very busy with the sprayer to get it all out before it went sour and curdled and started to smell .
Reading the twitter thread, the rate was about 25l/ha and it has to be whole milk ie not pasturised, not high scc and no antibiotics. It seems to work by stimulating the soil bacteria
 

Phil P

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North West
I wonder would antibiotic milk be as good ?? Theres always a load or two failing the test every week due to a treated cow getting milked into the tank and the co -op have to dispose of it .
Its not allowed to be fed to pigs either .
I havent sent down the tanker in years thank God but the last time it cost the insurance a hefty sum between the value of the milk and disposal .
Snag would be you would be very busy with the sprayer to get it all out before it went sour and curdled and started to smell .
Reading the twitter thread, the rate was about 25l/ha and it has to be whole milk ie not pasturised, not high scc and no antibiotics. It seems to work by stimulating the soil bacteria
I read the comments about the antibiotic milk, but I did wonder if that was because they where spraying it on grazing pasture and didn’t want it getting back into the herd? Or does the antibiotics kill the good bacteria as well?
 

Tim G

Member
Livestock Farmer
The anti biotic will kill all bacteria, which is why after a course of taking anti biotics, people will take pro biotics to re-establish gut bacteria.
I'd have thought it wouldn't be a contamination/withdrawal issue as there would be enough time between applications and grazing. Most antibiotic milk goes in the slurry tank and gets spread?
 

Flat 10

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Fen Edge
I can believe that there are benefits. Whether they are economic without applying large amounts I am sceptical but await results with interest. I’m not sure exactly how much is hitting the ground to stimulate soil bacteria, more I suspect it’s amino acids (remember AminoA!!) and calcium on the plant leaf but I guess we won’t know without scientific research. However like the application of molasses to plants it strikes me as somewhat immoral to use a foodstuff as a fertiliser. Waste is different. Same with AD plants but I digress. Do it @Phil P and furnish us with the results, but I would be tempted to compare with calcium and amino sprays.
 

Phil P

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North West
I can believe that there are benefits. Whether they are economic without applying large amounts I am sceptical but await results with interest. I’m not sure exactly how much is hitting the ground to stimulate soil bacteria, more I suspect it’s amino acids (remember AminoA!!) and calcium on the plant leaf but I guess we won’t know without scientific research. However like the application of molasses to plants it strikes me as somewhat immoral to use a foodstuff as a fertiliser. Waste is different. Same with AD plants but I digress. Do it @Phil P and furnish us with the results, but I would be tempted to compare with calcium and amino sprays.
Biggest problem will be finding a local supplier, most of the dairy herds have gone from close by and I’ll bet the shelf life won’t be long when it’s not refrigerated!
 
Milk contains nitrogen, phosphorous and potash along with tiny amounts of sulphur and other elements of course it's a fertiliser, why wouldn't it be?

I personally think waste milk would be better put into a digester, or are dairy farmers short of slurry and needing to be put using milk these days? My main concern would be the product attracting vermin to the farm and it's a recipe for salmonella and other diseases not to mention the flies and stripeys.
 

Phil P

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North West
Milk contains nitrogen, phosphorous and potash along with tiny amounts of sulphur and other elements of course it's a fertiliser, why wouldn't it be?

I personally think waste milk would be better put into a digester, or are dairy farmers short of slurry and needing to be put using milk these days? My main concern would be the product attracting vermin to the farm and it's a recipe for salmonella and other diseases not to mention the flies and stripeys.
We’re only talking 25L/ha not 250 gallons 😂
 

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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“

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