This was an on farm trial run by Mike Daly - EMNZ to monitor the effect of EM on Fodder beet Yield.
Fodder Beet is potentially the highest yielding winter forage options available to farmers currently; it is for this reason that we decided to trial using EM technology on a Fodder Beet Crop in Mid Canterbury.
Method
The trial was replicated with 3 controls plots and 4 plots using EM Ready to Use. The plots were 0.5m wide by 1.8m long. The entire paddock was fertilised with the following treatment (per Ha)
Pre-sowing
- 200kg of Crop Master DAP
- 100kg of Potassium Chloride granules
- 25kg Borate 36
6 weeks post-sowing
- 100 kg urea
EM Application
EM was applied 3 weeks after sowing when plants were about 2-4cms high. Of the four plots 2 were treated with the equivalent of 20L of EM RTU per Ha and 2 were treated with the equivalent of 40L per Ha.
Results
A good increase in yield on the plots where EM was applied to Fodder beet (Measurements taken in July 2014).The EM plots were on average the equivalent of 8.7 tonnes higher than the control plots with the average control plot of 27.1 tonnes of DM per Ha, an average EM 20L of 35.3 tonnes of DM per Ha and an average EM 40L of 36.3 tonnes of DM per Ha.
