[Mark Tupman]

Hey Eric,

Good question.

There are a few good liquid calcium products on the market from companies like cropping solutions and sustainable farming solutions, but they are expensive. Nicole Masters recommends making whitewash with hydrated lime, other farmers are trying micronised products or using strong acids to solubilise the calcium in micronised calcium carbonate etc…

I’ve yet to see much proper research or testing on the effectiveness of these measures but a few of us have started doing some so will keep you posted.

The other thing is that you can only get so much calcium into plants via foliar sprays and it’s not mobile in the plant so can’t be redistributed. We really need to look to soil uptake for the bulk of our calcium but soil uptake can be sluggish unless there’s good biological activity, hydration etc…

Like phosphorous, it’s best applied at the beginning of the season and I think upfront Calcium is as, if not more, important than the other macro elements as it’s so important for new growth. Its pretty hard to play catch up once calcium deficiencies start to show up.

The application of slowly soluble sources like single supa, and/or gypsum at, or prior to, planting is a strategy that’s somewhat effective for meeting growing season requirements along with the usual liming required to get soil calcium levels up.

• This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by  Mark Tupman.

[Mark Tupman]

Hi Will,

Yes, you can and should graze it now as this will set the scene for another round of vegetative regrowth.

I would be inclined to get the animals in there with high mob density and take the whole lot down quickly, but more completely. This will make for a more even stand of regrowth. Only partially grazing the area will result in selective grazing with some species getting grazed more than others. If given the option, the animals will also tend to eat the young leaves and avoid the old leaves and stem. These things happen if you don’t have high enough mob density. This is not the best for the animals as they don’t get an adequate balance of fibre and can scour. You also end up leaving behind a large amount of older more fibrous material that only declines further with time and is not what you want in your hay.

Check out the grazing management for pasture, soil and animal health article in the knowledge bank for further clarification.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by  Mark Tupman.
• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by  Mark Tupman.
• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by  Mark Tupman.
• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by  Mark Tupman.
• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by  Mark Tupman.

[Mark Tupman]

The addition of biochar to compost can improve the holding capacity, stability, biological status etc… of the finished product. Applying biochar enriched compost to the soil somewhat emulates the process used in the Amazon rainforests to create the rich terra preta soils that persist to this day. This could be a good practice to try in the poor sandy soils of WA.

Farmers are also making use of wood vinegar, which is a by product of biochar production, as it looks to be a promising biostimulant.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by  Mark Tupman.

[Mark Tupman]

Cover crop microbiome overwintering mentioned in this one.

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/regenerative-agriculture-podcast/id1372359995?i=1000659624439

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  Mark Tupman.

podcasts.apple.com

‎Regenerative Agriculture Podcast: Episode 122: Exploring Tillage, Aggregation, and Biological Innovation with Rick Clark on Apple Podcasts

‎Show Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, Ep Episode 122: Exploring Tillage, Aggregation, and Biological Innovation with Rick Clark - 20 June 2024

[Mark Tupman]

How’s this for growth.

This is the area where I left a cover crop to go to seed last year for stockpiled dry summer feed.

You can see how well it came away this season. Even the dog thinks it’s worth eating!

[Mark Tupman]

This is a site where we had a severe infestation of RLEM last year.

This year I have given it all the nutritional and biological help I can, no pesticide, and it’s hardly been touched by the RLEM (see photo) so must be doing something right.

I’ll post an up close tomorrow.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  Mark Tupman.

[Mark Tupman]

Last year :-/

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[Mark Tupman]

Hi Will,

Yes, the RLEM is definitely making its presence felt around the place atm.

There is definitely something about healthy plants or plants growing in healthy soil that seems to impart red legged resistance as we commonly see healthy plants untouched while others in not such a good paddock are getting hammered.

The exact reason for this is still unclear but it is understood that plants with poor photosynthesis/low brix and poor nitrate/ammonium to protien conversion are more susceptible to attack from sap sucking insects.

There are certain nutrients needed for both these processes to work efficiently I.e. magnesium, iron, manganese, sulphur, molybdenum…

We can hedge our bets by applying a foliar spray of the nutrients needed along with fulvic acid to improve uptake, molasses for energy etc…

The recipe that Kate attached fits the bill but make sure to include the following optional extras from the list – molasses, magnesium sulphate, fish hydrolysate and sodium molybdate.

An application of this sort can be very beneficial and may help you overcome the RLEM problem.

[Mark Tupman]

Another important thing at this time of year is avoiding second bites to enable plants to make good recovery. Small breaks also help but time for the rest of the paddocks.

[Mark Tupman]

When it comes to potassium inputs, potassium sulphate is probably your best option.

It’s an allowable input in certified organic enterprises and has a relatively low salt index so not hard on soil biology.

[Mark Tupman]

My take is that you cant push sheep much harder at this stage Kate. It sounds like your dung scores and condition are good. The fact they are not eating as much of the forage and leaving stem material is less of an issue with annuals as there won’t be much leaf recovery from now on and the residue will provide you with some good soil cover over summer.

The one concern is that they are selectively grazing so while the animals are doing ok, you must ensure that are your better plant species aren’t being compromised. At least they’re moving often enough to avoid the second bite 👍

Higher mob density would help you achieve a more even trample effect though.

Also, it could be time to move them onto that better quality stockpile you have up your sleeve.

[Mark Tupman]

Thanks for your input Eric,

I think having well rested pastures up your sleeve ready to go at this time of year is key.

Re the utilisation, do you think the cattle do better than the sheep on high fibre forage?

[Mark Tupman]

Hi Eric,

We have got the tissue and sap results back from the strips where we applied a combination of micronised high calcium products including gypsum, vibrocalcite, guano and soft rock phosphate.

As suspected, there’s no discernible difference in the Ca levels between the treated and untreated strips 😏

[Mark Tupman]

Unless the soil is in a healthy and fertile enough state to support the plants adequately 😏

[Mark Tupman]

Hi Michael,

For grazing purposes a general recommendation would be to use a standard ryegrass and clover mix that had early, mid and late season varieties in it and add some other hardy, graze tolerant species into the mix for diversity.

My suggestion would be to lower the usual rate of ryegrass and clover by around 30% and add 1-2kg of a brassica like tillage radish or forage rape, 1-2kg of chicory, 1-2kg of plantain, a couple of kilos of serradella and around 25kg forage oats or barley for early feed.