Supersoil- Snake oil?

Water John

Well one way to cut inorganic fertiliser use is to add carbon. Ammonia needs carbon to act. Some in NZ and Aus spread Leonardite. This is the upper layer over coal seams that has not fully turned into coal. It's high in humic and fulvic acids.

Say my name

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120516846#Comment_120516846

Ammonia or Nitrates need Carbon to stop them either floating off in the air or leaching. With nitrates you need a little movement or else the plant won't take in any but too little carbon and then it's down your waterways. The trouble is biology can eat your carbon if exposed through tillage or during a drought and nitrates can explode in soil from both the the increased food source for biology and increased biology number and lack of then carbon to hold it.

I'm confusing myself now..

Humic, fulvic added to dairy washings and the start of the third round grazing. Humic, fulvic, carbon buffers any negative effects from dairy detergents in the mix and holds onto any N, P, S, B in that carbon in the top layers of soil for your plants. The key to everything is balancing with the opposite number and then that allows more N efficiency and less N used, leakage.

Same idea works with biochar and humic, fulvic enhances char.

There's commercially available humates in this country that you spread with the fertiliser spreader if the want took people. They never had the budget or publicity for advertising that supersoil undertook though.

But as with balance if you overtip you may take N from the plant. But if you don't you may get leaching. Balance.

moll3

well took the plunge today and put out a 1kg bag on my place did the headlands and then corner to corner like a big x

if it works the neighbours will think im playing x and o in the fields😂

Say my name

Just to name out options apart from the NPK that people were brought up with.

Calcified seaweed.

Powdered seaweed - for spraying. Liquid too.

Humic acid.

Fulvic acid.

Humates for spreading in your spreader.

Molasses.

Gypsum - powdered and granulated.

Kieserite granulated. Sulphur, magnesium.

Biochar - you'd have to make it yourself though.

Sobac - brand name.

This thread title.

All the various imo's and biologicals from Korean natural farming from LABS to fermented seawater.

Compost teas, vermicast.

Benificial Anaerobic Microbes or BAM from NTS.

Fish Hydrolysate.

Citric Acid.

Jjameson

https://www.targetfertilisers.com/news/introducing-terra-fertilisers-on-your-farm/

this stuff isn’t gaining any traction?

Rusheseverywhere

https://www.nova-q.ie/agriculture

Organic approved too

Rusheseverywhere

https://www.nova-q.ie/acf-sr

THeir product

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517343#Comment_120517343

I used some last year and it’s horrible stuff to spread. Real sticky and doesn’t flow through the fertiliser spreader like it should so settings have to be altered too.

I’ve a ton or 2 of TerraCAN left since last year and I’m dreading the thoughts of spreading it as lord knows what it’ll be like after 10 months sitting in the shed.

Say my name

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517343#Comment_120517343

I find it good. But you have to think of it as calcified seaweed or spray on seaweed just combined with a fert. I.e building up your mineral status. There's a beneficial element to biology, in that other fert would be the complete opposite i.e harm biology.

The 11 units I've gone out with this year has been half bag of terra graze.

Jjameson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517692#Comment_120517692

Where did you get it?

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517315#Comment_120517315

The calcified sea weed, is that sold as physiolith from Grassland Agro ?

Say my name

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518187#Comment_120518187

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518294#Comment_120518294

The terra range from Cooney Furlong.

The calcified seaweed from Shamrock Enterprises.

There is another company or two doing as well calcified too but I can't find them atm nor dealt with them but they advertise occasionally in equine publications. Organic producers should be well up on contacts as well.

Breens out the monageer road, enniscorthy sell oyster shell but the trouble with all these is they went up in price when fert went up. Not sure if they went down again with the falling fert prices. These are long term investments tho. Mineral element for stock in forage grown where these are spread as well as reductions able to be made in N applications.

Say my name

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518294#Comment_120518294

I think it is too. But I haven't spread or dealt with them.

Say my name

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518554#Comment_120518554

What you get will usually give the rates of application and method of application.

After that it's use your own judgement.

Silverdream

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518554#Comment_120518554

I use a lick bucket full of mollasses per bay of the slatted house. Add to a full tank then agitate. Come back about 6-8 weeks later and you'll have grass rocket fuel

Unidentified user

What does the mollases do in the slurry?

Water John

Molasses is sugar, feed the bugs.

blue5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120516715#Comment_120516715

This is super sol or whatever in a nut shell. We ended up paying for bugs to preserve silage that were already in the grass anyway. We had a prominent personality writing in the indo every Tuesday telling us all how great bactensil 2000 was, we all fell down the rabbit hole after him.

Today we have a prominent YouTuber telling us not just how fantastic it is but the best results are where Fym is spread. Now why would this be? It’s because the bugs the soil needs are already in the fym.

I think the only place for these ‘magic potions’ are on tillage soils that have been ploughed every year for the last 20 years and are basically dead from constant disturbance and spraying. They might bring back some of the bugs to kickstart such soils when they are being converted back to grass from constant tillage.

Silverdream

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120521502#Comment_120521502

As John says the Mollasses feeds the Bugs. It's the bugs that break down the slurry. When you spread raw slurry out onto the field it still hs to break down before the grass can use it.

The Mollasses trick is one that most waste water treatment plants use to break down slurry

SuperTortoise

I have'nt bought molasses in years, what sort of price for a barrel would anyone know.

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120525621#Comment_120525621

Since molasses is 75% sucrose and 22% water, couldn't you use ordinary sugar instead? This can be bought cheaply in bulk from catering suppliers, so I wonder if it would be cheaper than molasses from the co-op?

148multi

It'sa few years since I got it too, there was molasses with whey, molasses with urea, and what I would have called pure molasses.

An ibc tank is the easiest way to get it, even if not filling .

PoorFarmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120525642#Comment_120525642

I got a few small bits this year for a bullock that wouldn't eat ration and the local coop were 60c/l if you were only buying small amounts. They had an IBC in the yard for the purpose. I'd imagine that it would be a good deal less to buy in an IBC. Most around here used to go to the Premier Molasses depot in Foynes with their own barrels etc. Not sure if that option is still there or not.

gerryirl

I hae used supersoil and here is my honest opinion. I put it on ground last year that got slurry ground PH was spot on and I have to say grass growth was very good and it got nothing else all year and I killed cattle off it. It was a great year for growing grass so jury is still out a bit. Got some this year and put in on ground that got no slurry, ph good in one field and ph not good in another. the field that the ph was wrong the grass growth was harmless.

If anyone thinks this is replacement for fertilzer then think again.Best fertilzer in the world it aint for me anyway. If I had wanted silage off the fields I sprayed Id be out of silage by december Id say. Have some more to spray again and will see but from my own no technial trialing ground where Ph is wrong forget about it. it dosnt grow like fertlizer it grows when conditions are ideal

Water John

A lot depends also on the grasses. PRG certainly don't like a reduction in nitrogen as they are bred specifically for it. Annoyingly the MSS mix mandated by the Dept has 55% PRG.

Cut a field of red clover silage today. The main grass at this time of year in my mix is cocksfoot. Other species will take over later, timothy and fescues. It got untreated slurry in Feb, nothing else, I'm organic.

It would be impossible to know if an additive would have an effect, except by proper trials.

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120543833#Comment_120543833

Have you heard anything about clover causing a problem in hay where animals bleed out internally due to warfarin in the clover?

It killed about 20 fine in lamb ewes on a lad I know a few years back. Took about 5 vets to diagnose it.

I'd go in for the clover scheme on an out farm but I want to make hay rather than silage bales there and don't want to cause a problem.

Also organic.

Water John

I do know one has to be careful as it can effect the fertility in ewes. Haven't heard of your problem. Think I'd be cautious with sheep in general. Mighty stuff for cattle though.

148multi

From what I heard the biggest problem in cattle was they were over fat.

Jb1989

Question for say or anyone else.

Have to spray super soil for a customer tomorrow or the next day. What weather conditions are required, dry with no rain forecast or can it be sprayed on damp grass??

Tried googling the data sheet for super soil, but as mentioned before, they don't advertise the essential information.

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120548969#Comment_120548969

If it's the same needed as the mixes say my name puts out, you'd want a non sunny day, with rain or rain on the way. Basically avoid hot days to give it a chance to work into the soil before it evaporates.