Spraying milk on crops

Phil P

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North West
That does not really convince me I'm afraid. I've seen all sorts spread on farmland, waste yoghurt, orange juice, milk waste, abattoir waste, chocolate waste, you name it. It was done for years before AD plants became mainstream. It all made stuff grow. It's not magical.
This is the whole point of why I’m asking the question on here, to see if anyone else is doing it and if it’s worth my time going any further. I’m not going to order a tanker full and hose the whole farm! I’m considering replicated tramline trials which would be yield mapped and weighed to see if’s worth the time and effort of doing.
You do seem to be a wealth of knowledge on just about every subject though Ollie and been there and dun it before so have you any replicated trial date for this you could share with us please? Preferably with costings as well, could save me a lot of time and effort. Any of the other applications you’ve mentioned as well would be welcome I’m always open to new ideas. Thanks 👍🏼
 

Martyn

Member
Location
South 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.
If you pm you email address I'll send across analysis & spreading sheets.
 

Pigken

Member
Location
Co. Durham
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.....


Bit off topic but how do pigs grow when on milk, assume you feed it along side something else?
Tia.
 

hutchy143211

Member
Location
E. Yorkshire
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'd love to know the outcome of this. It might be completely ineffective (particularly at such a low dosage) but at 50p/l it's only £5-12.50/ha so there's virtually nothing to lose. It's in the realms of what roundup use to cost and almost no chemicals now will come close to that spend. At £200/t only need 25-63kg/ha of yield to make it worthwhile plus spraying cost.
 

Cowcorn

Member
Mixed Farmer
I'd love to know the outcome of this. It might be completely ineffective (particularly at such a low dosage) but at 50p/l it's only £5-12.50/ha so there's virtually nothing to lose. It's in the realms of what roundup use to cost and almost no chemicals now will come close to that spend. At £200/t only need 25-63kg/ha of yield to make it worthwhile plus spraying cost.
Ah but hold on now we the Dairy farmers couldnt possibly sell you milk at 50p litre once its reclassifed as fert !!! Lets say 250 litre and we will throw in a free ibc with every 1000 litres and a glossy spec sheet full of optiomstic and highly dubious claims ....
A launch of this new superfert will happen at groundswell the home of the gullible !!! A few quid in @Clive s arse pocket for a ringing endorsement and the whole job will be oxo ... Milk will really then become the white oil and we will be as rich as Arabs ....
And as large Arable farmers have little interest in stock or so the claim we wont have to worry about them starting their own herds / fert plants will we ....
:):):):ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 

jondear

Member
Location
Devon
That does not really convince me I'm afraid. I've seen all sorts spread on farmland, waste yoghurt, orange juice, milk waste, abattoir waste, chocolate waste, you name it. It was done for years before AD plants became mainstream. It all made stuff grow. It's not magical.
I'm afraid it's not scientific . Amazing how things grow when you let the balance of natural soil bacteria recover and conditions are correct .
 

Pigken

Member
Location
Co. Durham
Yes, they get hard feed too. Pigs go mad for milk, we have to be careful to limit how much they get as they will just keep drinking it.
I did read somewhere that skimmed milk is the best feed to fatten pigs on.


Thanks, heard of folk feeding milk but never had first hand experience. When have pigs often soak barley over night in water to aid digestion etc, wonder about soaking the barley in milk?
 

farmer dave136

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
North yorkshire
25 litres a hectare is going to make fudge all difference. What do you suppose milk contains that seems able to work at 1000 times the potency of slurry or bagged nitrogen? Plutonium or something? Be growing spaghetti on trees next.
It’s that like saying 0.5litre of fungicide won’t makes a diffrence it’s a tiny amount over a ha but it does the job
 

Anymulewilldo

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cheshire
Yes, they get hard feed too. Pigs go mad for milk, we have to be careful to limit how much they get as they will just keep drinking it.
I did read somewhere that skimmed milk is the best feed to fatten pigs on.
It’s years ago now but we used too fatten loads of sows on bakery waste and skim milk. Buy sow & litters, sow & weaned meal , wean, sell pigs as strong weaners and put the sows straight on fattening ration. Month they were away gone and the next lot getting weaned. Was by far the best way we found at making money out of pigs. Then outfits came hard too source so we started serving the best young sows again. All went downhill from there, within 5 years we’d got rid of the lot.
 

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

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

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