With later drilling windows and therefore a race to get autumn cereal crops up and away before conditions turn, A H Oliver & Sons’ Will Oliver’s overall aim is to establish strong and healthy plants which can easily withstand overwintering.
Based at Nuneaton with mostly clay/loam soils, Osbaston House Farm’s cropping includes winter wheat, maize and winter beans. Rather than stick rigidly with convention, Will says he’s keen to try new approaches to get the best out of all aspects of the 600ha farm’s rotation.
In fact, this is what led him to try a liquid carbon molasses-based microbe food in maize, which then proved a gateway to improving the establishment of his winter wheat crops. “We first started using L-CBF Boost in maize around 3-4 years ago, adding it into the tank with pre-em herbicides.
“As we usually combine our maize crops, this leaves a lot of residue as trash on the surface. We’ve found L-CBF Boost helps the bacteria in the soil to break those residues down,” explains Will.
L-CBF Boost consists of filtered cane molasses and a range of nutrients and growth promoting compounds, including nitrogen, potash, sulphur, amino acids and organic acids. It’s applied at planting and can be used with a range of crops from autumn and spring combinables to maize, potatoes and sugar beet.
Winter wheat
With his interest piqued, plus a growing appetite for alternative crop management approaches such as biostimulants, Will says this led him to trial the product in winter wheat. “Again, applying it with pre-em herbicides to be efficient with field travel on our heavy soils. Results-wise, anecdotally, you could see an improvement in crop emergence.
“But with increasingly high input prices, plus volatility in fertiliser costs, any way those risks can be offset with alternatives such as biostimulants and non-synthetic options, has to have a value. Plus, because we buy L-CBF Boost in bulk quantities for use across the rotation, this has a real cost benefit too.”
Plant health
QLF Agronomy’s David Maxwell adds that root development is key for setting a crop up for the season; roots don’t just pull nutrients straight from the soil, they also work with microbes living around them in what’s called the rhizophagy cycle.
“In simple terms, roots draw certain microbes inside, take nutrients from them, then send them back out into the soil. The cycle keeps turning, providing the plant with a steady flow of nutrients, especially at a time when soils are cooling and natural mineralisation is slowing down.
“To keep that cycle running, you want plenty of active, healthy microbes in the root zone. That’s where L-CBF Boost comes in.”
Will adds that because such products often have limited trial data or can sometimes be accompanied by bold promises, the best way to approach them is to try them on-farm. This is how he’s been able to understand where best to use L-CBF Boost in his scenario.
“In fact, we’re about to embark on a new trial to evaluate the impact on growing winter wheat with L-CBF Boost, specifically after cropping maize.”
Maximising organic matter
Another aspect which is important to the farm is making the most of organic materials, given the business includes a large indoor poultry unit, points out Will. This means focus has inevitably shifted to building soil organic matter.
“L-CBF Boost is proven to feed soil biology, which should hopefully get more from the organic manures we’re using,” he concludes.
