Introduction: Philippe, a dairy farmer in mixed crop-livestock farming, uses products from the SWT range to treat effluents and the plots of his various crops. He shared with us the results obtained this year on his seven plots of grain corn, which were not irrigated during this particularly dry summer. The soil textures differ from one plot to another: clayey, clay-loamy, or silty and crusted. This grain corn is intended for silage, in order to obtain more protein than corn intended for silage.
SWT Products Used:
Slurry and bedding are respectively treated with SW Lisier and SW Compost & Litters. The soils are treated with SW Sol, and the foliar part with SW Plants + SW Protéo. SW Zone Secure is used as a repellent against wild boars.
Protocol:
Autumn 2021: surface spreading of 25 m³ of slurry + 25 m³ of manure and sowing of mixed cereals (méteil). February 2022: application of 80 units of urea and 150 kg/ha of poly-sulfate (equivalent to 50 sulfur units per 100 kg). End of April to early May: harvest of mixed cereals, weeding with 1 liter/ha of glyphosate. Soil cultivation using a rotary harrow to a depth of 2 cm, then strip-till, followed by corn sowing with seed coating using SW Protéo. At the 3–4 leaf stage: application of 1 liter of SW Sol + 1 liter of SW Protéo + 100 g of SW Plants. At the 5–6 leaf stage: selective weeding of the plots.
This protocol has now been applied to all crops for several years. The goal is to avoid plowing, to maintain continuous crops, to enrich organic matter, and to sustain living soil.
Results:
Dry matter: 8 tons on average per hectare
Dry matter rate: 35%
Starch content: 30%
Testimony of Philippe:
“I have been using the SWT informed products throughout my entire farm with satisfaction for several years. I am particularly satisfied with the results obtained this year. Indeed, the corn remained green until mid-September despite the summer drought we experienced, with temperatures reaching 40°C on some days.
Even the combine harvester operator was very surprised, since I was the only one in the commune whose corn remained green until the final harvest in mid-September.
I believe this performance is due to the structure of the soils, which has greatly improved since I implemented the following changes to manage my plots:
no plowing,
recovery and valorization of effluents using SWT products,
stimulation of biological life with SW Sol,
intercropping with plant cover.
Moreover, this biological life is properly nourished thanks to:
the organic matter from residues of previous crops,
the addition of dry wood chips rich in lignin,
and the effluents, which, thanks to SWT treatments, are rich in amino acids (organic nitrogen), thus allowing a reduction in nitrogen inputs.
It is worth noting that I was pleasantly surprised to find that beneath the surface crust, the soil was moist, confirming that the soil structure has greatly improved and that there was no evaporation of water through capillary rise, even during the heatwave.
Furthermore, the nutritional quality obtained has a direct impact on the health of the herd, and I believe this greatly contributed to the results achieved this year at the departmental contest in the Meuse, including, among others, the first prize in the young dairy cow category.
8 medals at the Prim’Holstein Departmental Contest in Verdun on the weekend of September 17 and 18, 2022
I conclude by thanking Eco Nature for their advice, attentiveness, and for their range of SWT products, which I strongly recommend, both for their efficiency and their value for money, which make it possible to reduce production costs. In addition, I now enjoy peace of mind thanks to the absence of wild boar invasions, made possible by the latest product, SW Zone Secure, which drove the boars away within 24 hours — they had been coming daily onto the plots.
