Pasture improvement and the effects of Spanish River Carbonatite

by Mikala Parr, Research Assistant

The pasture improvement demonstration and assessment was put into place to demonstrate the effects that Spanish River Carbonatite has on pasture. Spanish River Carbonatite (SRC) is a natural mineral fertilizer and soil conditioner used by organic and conventional farmers. It contains a wide variety of minerals that are mined from an ancient deposit in Sudbury.

SRC was applied to half of every paddock at 1000 lbs/ac (1100 kg/ha), which was the recommendation from Boreal Agrominerals, to see if it would have an effect on the growth of the grass. This was the second year of the project and the aim was to see if any residual effects were present. Each half of the paddock was measured separately, but there was no significant difference in grass growth between the two sections. Across two locations, SRC made no significant difference in grass yield or in soil nutrients.

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More information on the SRC aspect of this trial is available in this research note: 2015 Pasture Improvement Results: Spanish River Carbonatite
Thanks go to our farmer co-operators Jim & Bette Withers and Alex & Helen McRae.

This project was funded in part through Growing Forward 2 (GF2), a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.
The Agricultural Adaptation Council assists in the delivery of GF2 in Ontario.