Considera - Developing Agriculture

Named Issues
Pasture growth - growing season (4) Grazing (4) Bloat, Brix. (4) Low light (4) Nitrate levels, bloat, low light (4) Butter (4) High nitrates (46) Grazing (46)
General Appearance
We have had a house plant for years that would not flourish. Because there was not much light I sprayed it once with Photomax and then forgot all about it. Recently we realised that the plant was looking vital and flourishing and growing well - all shiny. The only thing we can think of is that it was the PhotoMax (544) PhotoMax has shown benefits in lengthening the growth of pasture in the spring and the autumn. Due to the vast differences of fertility within a dairy pasture we have had difficulty do specific laboratory testing, however the dairy vat and the farmers eyeometer do not lie. (BdMax Spring 2009 Newsletter.) (4)
Roots

Stem/trunk and bark - capillary system

Leaves
From HortResearch's report 'Evaluation of Photosynthesis on Winegrapes'; "'PhotoMax' consistently increased the rate of leaf photosynthesis, measured one or two days after treatment. This increase was in the order of 20% compared to a water-treated control. Four replicates of each treatment were arranged in a randomised block design. 500 ml in 800 litres were sprayed per hectare. Photosynthesis was measured on tow leaves per plot using a portable photosynthesis measurement system (CIRAS-1, PP Systems, Herts, UK) at ambient Co2 saturated photon flux density (1400 umol.m-2.s-1), and ambient air temperature. (4) PhotoMax [was applied] at 250mls/ha in 2 paddocks. In both paddocks we sprayed the back half of the paddocks, and not the front half. Our observations were: “There was a definite preference from the animals to graze the 'PhotoMax' areas. This lasted for two grazing periods which were a month apart. “Before the first grazing I also observed a brix difference of 2 points, I didn't measure it before the second grazing. There was 1000 litre increase in production after the 2nd grazing, compared to the previous 2- day pick up. This production subsequently held thereafter so I am unsure as to whether this was due to PhotoMax or seasonal variations. I'm keen to try some more trials with the BdMax products as I think they can aid our dairy farm operation”. R.D - Dairy Farmer - Waikato NZ (From BdMax winter 2009 Newsletter.) (4) “Have just grazed the PhotoMax sprayed pasture and see the cows spent most of the time on the treated side of the paddock. The cows had been having a little bloat but there was no sign of it while grazing that paddock”. .J.B - Dairy Farmer - Waikato NZ “I used PhotoMax once on some pasture and it lifted the brix reading significantly. It would seem that the greater the light deficit the more effectively it will work”. P.B - Consultant to Dairy Farmers NZ (From BdMax Winter 2009 newsletter.) (4) Our work with pasture has been taking place similtaneously in New Zealand and in the UK. A very common problem with spring and autumn pasture for animals is the high levels of dangerous nitrates that concentrate in the leaves. It is well accepted that this is caused by low light circumstances that do not allow for sufficient photosynthesis to occur, for the nitrate to be used and transformed into proteins. This leads to cows dying from nitrate poisoning. This is also a common problem in leaf vegetables for human consumption. Trials in the UK began in their spring of 2008 on both pasture and grain crops. To date we only have some foliar mineral tests back. The outstanding and common result was that the leaf nitrogen levels were significantly reduced. Trials on dairy pasture in New Zealand were begun in July of 2008. Even better results were found in mineral leaf levels here. The graph ... shows a 60% drop in the NO2 leaf levels, while the slightly higher NH4 levels suggest some stabilisation of the nitrogen is occurring. All of these results are confirming the HortResearch results from 2002. (BdMax 2008 newsletter.) (4) Peter mentioned the 'best scientist you'll ever have has 4 legs & a fur coat', and how right he was!! We were given some PhotoMax which we applied to three paddocks on the 12th May as an experiment. We have 6 milkers doing the rounds at present getting a couple of days in each paddock. Three days ago I put them into the treated pasture which is a lot greener than the rest of the farm. I was amazed that I was unable to see where the girls had grazed, and even more astonished to witness their creamier & tastier milk. They were happy to graze as soon as they got thru the gate and their udders were dripping next morning. - a real contrast to the long pasture they had been in. I am no expert at BD, in fact I was a real sceptic not so long ago, but my 6 scientists have given the thumbs up to this miraculous product so I thought I would share their findings with you all. I have always advocated that I can whip the butter up within a certain time frame. This process has been taking at least 30-40 minutes until we tried the cream from the BD pasture. I am back to 10 minutes again. Amazing! I am looking forward to applying PhotoMax to the rest of the farm and following up with more BD with Peter & Glenn's guidance. 'J' Te Awamutu [- New Zealand] (4) Please find attached recent results we have received from trials run by a local vet on a pasture she was faced with. On the 24th of February, 2011, the stems of Redroot in the pasture showed greater than 500mg/l of nitrate. Anything above 100mg/l is considered toxic and cause nitrate poisoning of cows. On the 26th February, PhotoMax 2 ( Etherics 7 and PhotoMax mixed) was applied at 500mls per hectare. Testing was done 4 days later on the and the nitrate levels had dropped to between 50 -100 mg/l. Cows were grazed on this pasture without any deaths. These results are the similiar to those we have achieved on Dairy pasture on 3 other occassions and available on our website. (46) After talking with happy farmers who had used ‘PhotoMax’ and "Etherics 1000' to enhance their winter grass growth I thought it was time I tried it. I never did any scientific comparing or testing but rather chose to spray the whole farm in Autumn so as to maximise grass growth. After completing a feed assessment, I theoretically should have been short of feed over winter / spring. Instead we arrived at calving time with cows that had put on condition, some considerably, and enough grass to feed the cows through spring, along with some supplement. It was easy to apply and I'll definitely be using it annually from now on. (46)
Flowers

Generative organs

Fruit

Seed

Notes and Academic Papers
SilicaMax ... is understood to bring a strong upright structure to a plant, by strengthening the cell wall. This has a wide range of benefits from increase plant health to an increase in plant nutritive quality. Interestingly trials carried out by various people, including some of our trials with HortResearch, have been unable to show any increase in photosynthesis through using 501. However simple observation shows it inclines plants to stronger flowering and better taste. This tendency to increase flowering is one of the reasons that we developed PhotoMax. We noticed that 501 can only be used sparingly throughout the season or it will impact strongly on the plants growth habit. So we looked into the other BD preparations to see how we could strengthen the 'silica process' and photosynthesis without altering the plants growth habit. Over the years we have found PhotoMax achieves both these goals. It can be sprayed every few weeks throughout the whole season, especially in times of low light, without unduly effecting the basic growth habit. Trials have shown increases in dry matter, increases in brix and - more recently - reduction in leaf nitrates, without plants tending to seeding. These two products perform different activities in the plant. SilicaMax provides the structure plants need, while PhotoMax works more on the internal chemistry of the plant through enhanced photosynthesis and all that this brings. We use both in our programs, however SilicaMax is usually only used once in the spring and then again once before harvest of any crop. We use PhotoMax mostly in regard to the available light. If there is a dull period then use PhotoMax regardless of the time of year. Early spring is naturally one of its prime periods as it helps plants get a very good start to the season. (4)

PhotoMax or PM

About the Preparation -

Effect on plants -