Sorghum and R.U.M. create top yields at Spring Ridge

Geoff Brown (left) discusses his high yielding sorghum crop with Peter Irwin (Beaulieu R.U.M.)

Standing in his fine crop of sorghum, Spring Ridge, NSW farmer Geoff Brown notices an aerial contractor spraying a neighboring property.

"Heliothis", he comments, "they've been spraying for grubs for a few weeks now but so far we haven't had the need."

A 4 year 'R.U.M. veteran', Geoff couldn't be happier with his continuing good results.

This season Geoff sowed 150 ha of sorghum using Beaulieu R.U.M. Liquid Plant Food as the main source of plant nutrition.

Geoff started his fallow treatment by adding 2L R.U.M./ha to his glyphosate. "I feel that R.U.M. helps the herbicide do a quicker job with a better weed-kill", he said.

Two varieties of sorghum, 'Buster' and 'Maxi', were then sown with 3L/ha R.U.M. to 60L/ha water, applied in a band 100mm wide.

In all, 750L of R.U.M. was used over the 150 ha... at a fraction of the cost of Geoff's usual chemical fertilisers.

Geoff was confident of a good yield. "The 'Buster' should yield 6-8 t/ha and the 'Maxi' should go 7-10 t/ha", he predicted. "And I sowed at only 63,000 seeds/ha instead of 70,000."

Geoff also challenged some sandy ridge country to grow a barley crop. "The barley really needs all the help it can get to grow anything, so we hit it twice using a total of 10L/ha of R.U.M."

"Towards the end of the season the lack of moisture had most crops under stress. But while the neighbours were talking about grazing cattle on theirs... we happily stripped ours."

By increasing his yields and minimising his chemical costs, Geoff knows that both his soil and his hip-pocket are much healthier.

As he says, "If you can get the same good result for a much smaller outlay... at the end of the day you must have more dollars in your pocket!"

STOP PRESS:

The 'Buster' sorghum yielded 6.25 t/ha and the 'Maxi', 10 t/ha

R.U.M. grows bigger!

In an expansionary move, Beaulieu R.U.M. Pty. Ltd. has relocated to new offices, showrooms and warehouse at 1 Rivers Street, Inverell NSW 2360. We even have a new kettle in case you drop in for a welcome cuppa.

R.U.M. keeps on... and on...

We've been getting a lot of feedback from farmers who've discovered one of the lesser-known qualities of R.U.M. It sticks.

Not in the gluey sense but more like a wetting agent.

Except that R.U.M. is not an oil-based chemical but a nutrient-laden solution that can put a fine crystalline layer over the leaf of a plant or particle of soil.

Here's an experiment you can try at home:

- Swish a tiny amount of R.U.M. in a glass to coat the sides

- Let the glass stand

- In a few minutes a fine crystal pattern should form.

- After about 20 mins try rubbing it off.

QLD farmer Pat Lyons recently told a national magazine that he mixed R.U.M. in with herbicides to achieve a quick knockdown and weed 'brown out'.

"First you stimulate plant growth which, I believe, helps a herbicide like glyphosate do its job better and faster."

"Secondly, you use at least one less inorganic chemical on your land."

"Thirdly, R.U.M. is a whole lot cheaper than the usual oil-based wetters."

We wish that Pat had added that R.U.M. won't damage waterways or dams either.

So we'll tell you now.