Inoculants

[jack]

Has anyone used the granular inoculants? If so, how did they perform compared to the peat based or liquid inoculants?

[buss]

I've used granular inoculants albeit in research plots and not on a full field scale. Once my drill was calibrated I found the products convenient and easy to use. Some of my clients have had to try different formulations to find which product metered the best out of their particular seeding tool. I also liked that fact that if I had a breakdown I didn't have to re-inoculate the next day but rather just take the graular out of my drill and store it until the next day. I have noted a greater number of smaller nodules on the lateral roots of peas inoculated with granular relative to other types of products some of the time. In terms of delivering the right amount of live rhizobia into the rooting zone and keeping them alive there until needed, I think the granular system is best suited to accomplish this task. The result can be a better nodulated plant. The challenge is whether that results in significantly and profitabily increased yield on a regular basis. A lot of variables influence yield. A well nodulated plant is an optimum production practice but it does not always mean increased yield. Clients I have that are in drier, lower OM soils are more convinced of the value to the technology than those in high rainfall, high OM soils. Never worse and sometimes better still seems to be where things are at.

[peart]

Jack: Re your question on granular innoculants.... I have used the gran form of innoculant for the last two years on field peas and have been very impressed with the ease of application and the resulting yield increase. You do have to have a machine capable of applying the correct rate into the seed row, which may be a problem, depending on your setup. .... Terry