Potatoes thriving with Guano Gold

Seed potato operation thriving with Guano Gold; Peter Abel

The Abel family grows certified seed potatoes near Warragul in the West Gippsland district of Victoria. Our goal is to increase saleable yields of certified potato seed through increasing the numbers and quality of the potato tubers.

Several years ago we trialled various fertiliser blends including one which contained Madura Guano Gold. Because of the short and long term benefits we saw, each year since then, we have increased the area of the crop which is sown with Madura Guano Gold® blends.

In our experience, Madura Guano Gold® in the blend has contributed to

Significantly stronger root growth which has assisted the plant with greater capacity to access nutrition and water for the duration of the crop.
Increasing the phosphorus availability for the potatoes throughout the full duration of the crop because Madura Guano Gold contains phosphorus which is available short, medium and long term.
Improving the calcium availability, because Madura Guano Gold is high in calcium, making plant cells stronger and improving the quality of the potato.
Improving the calcium availability also increases storage life of the potato and their capacity to withstand transport interstate and overseas.
Improving the yields in some of the potato varieties where it is typically difficult to achieve high yields. This is because of the balance of phosphorus, calcium and silica in Madura Guano Gold.
Increasing the phosphorus availability for crops or pastures which follow the potato rotation because the combination of phosphorus calcium and silica in the Madura Guano Gold reduces phosphorus tie up.

We are convinced that Madura Guano Gold has multiple benefits to our beef and seed potato operation.

It was only because Madura Guano Gold does perform in the paddock, that we added it to the range of conventional and sustainable fertilisers that we market through our fertiliser business, EPC Pty Ltd. Now a significant number of our fertiliser customers are also experiencing the benefits of Madura Guano Gold.

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

Being so far away from our markets, durability is critical and the Silica is really good in terms of hardening up the skin and making the melons better to transport.Ord River WA irrigator David Menzel-Barradale

The problem with many organic fertilisers is that they have very low rates of nutrients, meaning you need to put out high rates. A product like Guano Gold has 12pc P, whereas Guano Sulphur Gold has 10.5pc P, obviously with additional sulphur. These figures compare very favourably with something like a single superphosphate product. Agronomically, it’s a good product in any setting, not just for organic producers.Garry Allison, Landmark Agronomist. Mount Gambier, SA

For the broadacre croppers, Guano Gold works really well in paddocks where they have had issues with nutrient tie-up. He said the majority of synthetic P products have large rates of water soluble P. The problem with that is that you can have instances where it ends up tying up zinc in the soil so you run into problems with zinc deficiencies. Not only does the slow release nature of the Guano Gold product work well over the entire season, it also contains zinc for the crop as well as the other nutrients.Moree agronomist Rob Drewitt

We strongly recommend the Guano Gold products to fellow farmers if they are looking at improving their Calcium and Silica levels using various methods of application such as foliar and granular.James and Aimee Thomas Falkirk Macadamia Farm

I have recommended Guano Gold products for 20 years and in all cases had excellent long-term results increasing in pasture productivity.Paul Baguely - PB Ag Consulting

They are high analysis products so you get your nutrients without having to put too much fertiliser out.Anthony Beutel, Googa Farm Organics

We have known since the 1930s that phosphorus is one of the main elements required to grow a successful crop of not just the (flax) plant but the seed. It was one of those products that was first out in a granular type form and it was so much easier to get an even coverage over the ground, rather than a powder form. Later on the product became a little more refined, so we could put it through our air-seeder. We also broadcast some of it, prior to seeding, when we are cultivating ground. The products have great characteristics in relation to phosphate and silica, which is exactly what we need for flax.Waltanna Farms flax-seed farmer & Ambassador for Guano Australia, Michael Nagorcka

Potatoes thriving with Guano Gold

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WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY