Hebridean Liquid Seaweed Enriching your soils: enriching your crops
The scourge of docks is now a growing challenge for most grassland farmers, particularly on land where three of more silage cuts are taken annually. There are herbicides available to tackle the problem. However, their application also tends to check grass growth rates and forage quality, in that all-important period prior to cutting.
Ryan Murphy milks 70 cows near Glarryford in Co Antrim. He normally takes 4 cuts of silage every year. As part of his normal grassland management practises, he will spray for docks on those fields where the weed has become a particular problem.
“In the past we had noticed that spraying for docks in the Spring also held back grass growth for a period of time thereafter,” Ryan explained.
“However, on the advice of Richard Owens, form Richard Owens’ Farm Solutions, we have been including ‘Hebridean Liquid Seaweed’ in the herbicide tank mix for the past two years.
“And the results have been very encouraging. Not only does the seaweed act to ensure that docks are killed off quicker, however, it also encourages grass growth. Swards actually green up, rather than yellowing, after the liquid seaweed has been applied.”
Richard Owens called in with Ryan earlier this week.
“Hebrides Liquid Seaweed is produced by a family run company with a long history in the seaweed industry,” he explained.
“It is based on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Here the seaweed, which grows in abundance along the shoreline has been used for centuries to enrich the soil.”
So how does Hebrides Liquid Seaweed work?
The liquid extract is manufactured from pure Hebridean seaweed and comprises a very wide range of elements concentrated from the sea. The product contains more than sixty natural organic elements, amino acids, enzymes, trace elements and growth promoting substances as well as high levels of solubilised alginates, which is a major source of nutrients for biological activity in the soil – which creates the ideal soil structure.
“Collectively, these have had a catalytic effect on plant growth by supplementing the plants own biochemistry and ensuring greater efficiency in the growth mechanisms of crops to which it is applied,” Richard Owens further explained.
“ As the roots develop and strengthen, nutrients previously locked up in the soil are released, thus negating deficiencies in trace elements and ensuring more effective use of fertilisers as well as increased palatability to grass swards.
“Applied photosynthesis and the build-up carbohydrate are encouraged, resulting in stronger cell structure and a plant better able to resist stress and disease. Checks from natural means such as drought and adverse weather as well as the induced checks of herbicides and fungicides are more successfully resisted by plants treated with Hebridean Liquid Seaweed.”
“The application rate on grassland is 3 litres per hectare”
