A unique seaweed species can improve soil health and provide other crop benefits
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Farmers are always looking for ways to improve their yields, and the Atlantic Ocean is home to a tool to help with this.
A unique seaweed known as Ascophyllum, also known as Rockweed, has adapted to thrive in frigid cold at high tide and basking in the sun at low tide.
Through evolution, the seaweed developed compounds to help it withstand these kinds of stress.
Companies like Acadian Plant Health based out of Dartmouth, N.S., extract the compounds from the seaweed, which can then be used in crops.
“When you apply it to a crop, either to the roots, in-furrow or foliar, it manipulates those genes to have a physiological response to give the crop similar properties the seaweed would have,” Kevin Shiell, director of formulator technology at Acadian Plant Health, told Farms.com. “It allows the crop to be able tolerate drought, high temperatures, salinity stress and other stresses.”
And Acadian has the data to show the seaweed can provide crop benefits.
In soybeans across three Canadian locations, for example, in-furrow and foliar from R-1 to R-3, the seaweed extracts contributed to a 20.6 per cent average yield increase over the control group.
And in corn across two sites, in-furrow applications supported a 5.6 per cent yield increase compared to the control group.
In total, Acadian’s products are used in more than 100 crops in about 80 countries.
“There’s probably not a crop that we don’t have data on,” Shiell said.
Acadian Plant Health has done business with the ag sector for many years, helping producers in horticulture and other industries.
Row crop producers are starting to accept the idea of the seaweed extracts, he added.
“Growers can get hit with drought at planting or in the middle of the season,” he said. “They’re now looking for a tool they can use to help them get similar yield but under more challenging climatic conditions.”
The seaweed biostimulants also generate about 50 per cent fewer CO2 emissions per application than traditional fertilizers.
And it can lead to improved soil health.
It can occur in multiple ways, Shiell said.
“It comes as a direct stimulation of bacteria in the soil, or the microbes that are in the soil,” he said. “Farmers may also see an increase in soil aggregates over time. And because the product works systemically through the plant, you will see the root exudates change. And those will indirectly improve the soil microbiome around the roots.”
Acadian’s seaweed extracts are not designed to replace things like cover crops, but when used together, farmers can maximize the benefits, Shiell said.