Now’s the right time to improve soil health and give crops the best start

Following a long, hot, dry summer, soils will be suffering in many areas and will need a boost in terms of soil biological activity ahead of next season. With rain and showers forecast much more widely across the UK for the coming days (late-August), it’s an ideal time to apply Sea2Soil and kick-start the microbial activity in your soils.

Whether drilling new winter crops, covers ahead of spring drilling next year, or leaving a fallow green stubble, applying a soil improver will provide vital nutrients to boost soil microbial activity and soil health, in turn improving early establishment of winter crops, cover crops and spring crops and alleviating particularly those crops suffering from additional stress.

Whichever way you farm, every soil and every field can benefit from the use of a soil improver, especially at vital times throughout the year where the product can help ensure optimal soil health, early nutrition and establishment by:

• Feeding beneficial soil fungi and bacteria
• Enhancing soil health and crop fertility
• Improving soil resilience, building soil carbon
• Better nitrogen utilisation for plants in bioavailable form

Boosting soil biological activity with Sea2Soil

Sea2Soil improves soils by actively feeding soil micro-organism populations, including protozoa and earthworms, with an array of vital nutrients and amino acids. In turn, the microorganisms release valuable nutrients from the soil in plant bioavailable form to feed the growing crop. This process can take time, depending on existing soil conditions, so it’s better to apply the product while the crop is young and again before key growth phases, giving a boost when the crop really needs it as it establishes and grows.

The microbial community (underground livestock) in soils require constant feeding. Soil improvers used in combination with a crop or cover crop are an ideal way to do this, ideally with minimal soil disturbance.

Flexible application, easy to use

In the autumn, apply Sea2Soil early (around drilling or pre-drilling) to help get the soil micro-organisms going as soon as possible. A split application approach (in autumn, followed by early spring) is the most effective timing.

Quick guide to optimal application timings:

• Winter sown crops
• Winter cereals Apply Sea2Soil @10 L/ha pre-emergence, or as soon after drilling as possible
• Follow up with 10 L/ha in early spring, as you can travel or to coincide with an early spring herbicide or T0 fungicide application. It is better to spray while the crop leaf area is still small.

Winter oilseed rape:

• Apply Sea2Soil @10 L/ha pre-emergence, or soon after drilling. Follow up with 5 L/ha in autumn (at 4-6 leaves), then a further 5 L/ha in spring before stem elongation. Alternatively, if the autumn application is missed, follow up with 10 L/ha in early spring.

Winter covers, green stubble fallows:

• Cover crops, over-wintered green stubbles. Apply Sea2Soil at 10 L/ha pre-emergence, or as soon after drilling as possible during the early autumn period. Follow up with 10 L/ha early in spring, ideally as soon as you can travel, to boost soil health and nutrition ahead of spring drilling.

Spring crops:

• Spring cereals, potatoes, pulses, maize, and new grass leys. Spray 10 L/ha pre-emergence, or soon after drilling and follow up with 5 or 10 L/ha later in spring (before stem elongation in cereals).

The Sea2Soil trials research programme and collaborative partnerships are improving our understanding of soil health every year. As we find out more, more growers are trying Sea2Soil on their farms, too.

For more information on applying Sea2Soil this season, product specifications or information around our research programme, please contact Grant James by emailing grant.james@pelagia.com or calling 07976 879646.