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Post by shmiffy on Feb 2, 2024 9:27:02 GMT -6
I got to listen to Glen last week at a conference in Nisku. He said he was talking to a room full of farms that are in General Mills reg program. He asked them if their yields were going up,inputs going down,insecticide use dropping off,plants getting healthier? He said most of the room was shaking their head no.
I got a compost extractor last winter. I put 2lbs of actual high quality compost down with the seed in 10gallons/acre. I did one lentil field foliar application with about 3 lbs of compost in15 gallons an acre with 1 lb phos/potasium,1 lb store bought white suger, .5l mono silicic acid. The results were impressive. No aphids or lady bugs where it was applied. Grasshoppers were plentiful. Very little grasshopper damage. Neighbour lentils beside me did 8 bushels an acre less. Soil test show more than double the N and phos of my other lentil fields. Going to do a lot more of this next year. Very impressed
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Feb 2, 2024 23:28:15 GMT -6
I was talking to a guy in the fall that was saying some bugs, like flea beetles don't have a pancreas and cannot tolerate sugar, so they sprayed sugar water and the beetles either died or moved on from the field. Kind of a different strategy but no toxic chemicals, is this your goal as well?
Are you extracting the tea from the compost?
Is this comparable to Eco Tea then? We are going to continue with it this year and use liquid fert to replace anhydrous with the hope of improving soil health.
What are the costs of your mix per acre? I guess sugar is a wild card now with the supply shortage (stores here don't have it).
How did you get onto this idea?
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Post by shmiffy on Feb 3, 2024 21:51:51 GMT -6
Compost extract is just that. Extract the biology from the compost. Mature compost has gone dormant. It stays that way until you give it a food source. Where tea is active and a short time frame for use. Been following it for awhile. Some of the videos Jay Young (young red angus ) you tube helped connect a few dots.
The more you look into it the more positives that can be found. Yes sugar does slow down flea beetle but won’t eliminate them. There is biology in compost that will take out insects. But making the plant better insects just can’t eat them. Thomas Dykstra has a good chart for what brix levels affect what insects.
Eco tea I would pass on. They get paid from the govt to take garbage and then they try to sell it to the farmer. Need to find someone that makes high quality compost. A set type of ingredients that gives good out put.
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Post by shmiffy on Feb 3, 2024 22:00:36 GMT -6
High quality compost can be bought from anywhere from $1200to $2500 a tonne. A tonne of cane molasses $810.(last week I picked some up )The last sugar I bought was $28 for 20kg bag. Not sure what it is now. 55 lb bag phos/potash was $200(could be off alittle). Mono silicic acid is about $19 a liter.
Less chemical and less synthetic fertilizer is the goal. Was at a few farms that have been doing this summer. They can grow pretty amazing crops with no applied nitrogen.
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Feb 4, 2024 21:19:20 GMT -6
I never thought of buying compost, does anyone know where in the Western part of Manitoba it is for sale?
This would have the effect of reestablishing soil biology maybe?
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Post by Oatking on Feb 5, 2024 8:12:11 GMT -6
I never thought of buying compost, does anyone know where in the Western part of Manitoba it is for sale? This would have the effect of reestablishing soil biology maybe? Optimal , what form does this come in? Would you use a spreader ? I am using humic acid as a granular thru my air tank . I have been enrolled in the General Mills regen project for 4 years now . That is an interesting concept using compost. As farmers we should be glad consumers are pushing the big corporate food companies to work with us and give us incentives to produce healthier food ! If it wasn’t for that , I don’t think they would care . I know General Mills is investing a lot of money into non gmo , regen agriculture , fair trade and gluten free oat production . Green cover crops is my goal in this project . I basically would like to keep the land greener after harvest with winter wheat and than kill it off in the spring and seed oats . I don’t think intercropping is working too hood in my area. Can’t afford to take that chance . Here is the interesting thing . When oats went to 11 dollars a bushel , a lot of this hype suddenly went quiet from big corporate ! Maybe now that grain is cheap again we will see more program cash . I guess it makes sense . Imagine the balance sheet for General Mills two years ago and now ! However , I can see oats going to 11 again with drought so who knows . |
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Feb 5, 2024 8:36:54 GMT -6
I am not sure how to spread it, thinking maybe spin spreader? I am not sure what the consistency of compost would be, either from batch to batch or between suppliers. We got Biosul spread in the fall, it is a compost mix with elemental sulfur that should cover our requirements for 5 years (assuming ideal conditions) This is an explanatory link for Bio Sul: carlisleliquid.com/bio-sul/Maybe I'm already on my way with the compost idea? The way things are changing lately the expression about the only constant is change hold very true, too bad the changes don't make sense. I would like to see the balance sheet for General Mills, and a few others, I mean the real one. I am thinking this economy will certainly drive some changes in practices with price as the driver. |
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Post by kevlar on Feb 5, 2024 8:48:34 GMT -6
I don’t think General Mills is hurting to badly, they were making money on $11 oats.
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Post by meskie on Feb 5, 2024 9:42:59 GMT -6
I don’t think General Mills is hurting to badly, they were making money on $11 oats. I bet they are making a lot more now at $5 oats |
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Post by shmiffy on Feb 5, 2024 12:45:41 GMT -6
Use an extractor to knock the biology off and put into liquid form. Bio5 compost extractor or something similar. Then it can be applied in furrow or with a sprayer. Putting compost on without extracting would require massive amounts.
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Feb 5, 2024 17:37:56 GMT -6
That's what I was thinking, it would have to be an inch deep to start maybe?
Would there be enough compost to meet demand in Manitoba, I don't really know of any big amounts of it and I am sure it all gets used up?
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Post by shmiffy on Feb 5, 2024 19:42:02 GMT -6
Do you know anyone that uses any Back to your roots products? They have been showing their producers how to make high quality compost with pigs. I would take a drive to Daysland Alberta and get some from Brian at Zs farms. He has been been at for a few years and makes some of the best. You could make a static pile or Johnson Sue. Pigs make a lot fast. Thomas Koenen has some videos explaining it. Worm castings work too and then at the bottom of the list is munciple compost. Everyone knows what pea/lentils innocoulant does. High quality compost is like that but x10000
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Post by shmiffy on Feb 6, 2024 1:52:33 GMT -6
Might be worth a phone call if your interested, Im pretty pumped about biological farming.
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