VERSATILITY AND RELIABILITY A WINNER.
Graham Clay moved from dairy farming full time to contracting with his own products and a Tow and Fert Multi 2800.
Graham Clay
Contractor & former Dairy Farmer
Tow and Fert Multi 2800 Owner
Biological brew & Tow and Fert a winner in efficiency gains and growing more grass.
Graham Clay has been there and done that down on a dairy farm. With a history of conventional dairy farming, followed by a move to organic dairy farming Graham has changed and learned along the journey to ensure he can maximise dry matter growth in whatever system he is running.
As part of the journey in changing to an organic farm Graham was applying compost and chicken manure. He had some problems with these products breaking down. At the time his farm consultant gave him some biology to try on the compost heap. The results were amazing, and Graham says,
“We actually, physically saw the pile change. The organic matter being broken down and the process that glued it back together into little colloids of soil.”
Above: The Tow and Fert Multi 2800
Episode 1: Graham Clay talks about developing his biological foliar product and how the Tow and Fert was the only foliar application machine that could apply it without blocking..
Graham thought that there had to be more to it, so he approached his farm consultant and now business partner to create BioLink. Biolink is now a product that includes biology, humic and fulvic products along with blood and bone and fish meal.
It wasn’t long before Graham realised, he had a problem. The product he had created worked but application was difficult and time consuming. Traditional boom sprayers kept getting blocked and on some of the steep land they tended the booms would hit the ground, breaking away, meaning Graham would have to get out of the tractor and reset the sprayer.
Purchasing the Tow and Fert prior to going contracting full time Graham used the Tow and Fert and his Biolink product on his own Organic Dairy Farm. The results were significantly better than he had seen previously, and this became the catalyst to sell the farm and go contracting full time.
In a paddock of lucern, Grahams Multi 2800 applying the Biolink product.
Graham says, “We used to make a lot of silage, the real difference was that we went from having silage that went from 8 megs of energy and 12% protein to having silage that was 12 megs of energy and 19% protein. The nutrient density of the feed meant that the cow’s production hardly altered at all. I put that down to the biology system and the Tow and Fert and that’s where the Tow and Fert just stood alone.”
Now, no longer with his own farm Graham is using his own product along with more traditional fertiliser products to help other farmers increase their yield.
“In our contracting business we will use our biological system and apply it with nitrogen, potassium and whatever else the farmer needs. The results have been significant with a 10-15% increase in yield”
“We have managed to bring the N rates down to 50 kgs per hectare and we’ve even gone as low as 30 with the biology in there and we are still getting extremely good results.”
And in addition to the reduction of the fertiliser products Graham says they are also seeing the benefits of more nutritious grass in the animals. Animal health has improved on many of his clients’ farms.
“If we apply through the foliar system the uptake is a lot quicker through the plant’s vascular system, and by doing that the flow-on effects to the animals mean there is more nutritious feed for them.”
Contracting with a Tow and Fert Multi 2800.
The Multi 2800 has enabled Graham to apply multiple products at once and use his Biolink product with ease on his client’s farms.
Before taking on the Tow and Fert Multi 2800 Graham says that he tried several different boom sprayers and nozzles. The results however were that they still blocked up and became cumbersome and uneconomical to use.
Having made the decision to get out of farming and take his new product and Tow and Fert Multi 2800 contracting Graham says that the machine has been amazing.
“It’s a very simple machine to fill, we can add our products in and our total turnaround time to load is about 7 minutes.”
The operation of the machine Graham says is simple and well designed.
“I find one of the best things about it is that when we are on steeper country which we do quite often, the other sprayers we tried the booms would brake out, but this machine seems to handle it all.”
Episode 2: Graham talks about the Tow and Fert and how it has helped his contracting business.
“I’d say this is the only machine to buy, that’s the honest truth. We’ve had a terrific run out of this machine, and we can’t fault it. It’s done everything we have asked it to do, and its durability has been great.
I would not have any hesitation in letting people know to buy a Tow and Fert.”
Above: Graham applying product through his Tow and Fert Multi 2800 on a lucern paddock for one of his clients.
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The Tow and Fert Times is a publication full of information for all farmers. Designed to help you with your nutrient management and fertiliser decisions, it is packed full of helpful information, case studies and helpful tips and tricks for the farm.
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