Newton Biostimulant seed treatment helps us grow healthier crops
A regenerative journey to improve the farm’s soils
Regenerative farmer Gerry Mee has been no-till for five years in a quest to improve the farm’s soils, and turned to biostimulant seed treatment Newton to reduce his reliance on single purpose dressings (SPD) and optimise crop establishment.
Gerry Mee is the owner of Charity Farm in Burlton Shropshire, which he farms across 220ha rotating between winter wheat, oilseed rape, spring oats, spring wheat and environmental schemes. With various soil types from sand to peat and heavy clay, optimising soil health and crop establishment can be challenging.
Having been direct drilling for the last 5 years in a bid to enhance soil structure and organic matter, Gerry has been investigating the benefits of biostimulant seed treatment Newton to improve establishment and reduce reliance on chemical seed dressings. Impressed by the results, Gerry says “we’ll be having Anglia Grain Services treat all our wheat home saved seed with Newton this autumn.”
Newton benefits on Gerry's farm:
- Faster germination and emergence over SPD
- Significant rooting benefits into February
- Increased tiller retention
- Fitter healthier plants
- Yield benefit +0.3 t/ha
Newton treated Skyfall visibly healthier
“With the move to direct drilling reducing nitrogen mineralisation compared to cultivated soils, we’ve been looking at ways to boost the crop’s access to nutrition early on,” explains Gerry.
“Back in autumn 2021 we had Anglia Grain Services treat some of our home saved seed (c.v. Skyfall) with Newton and some with our usual dressing Start-uP Maxx – a phosphite based seed treatment for early vigour. We were amazed by the results.”
“With Newton the crop looked so much healthier – it was more vigorous, greener and tiller retention was noticeably improved, which also came through in yield.”
Photo courtesy of Gerry Mee – Winter Wheat cv Skyfall 14th March 2021
Photo courtesy of Gerry Mee – Winter Wheat cv Extase
Newton kick-start over Beret Gold
“This year we conducted an on-farm trial of Newton plus Beret Gold (fludioxonil)-treated winter wheat compared with Beret Gold alone. The crop with the Newton got away faster and established better going into the winter.”
“We took a spade to the trial plots in February and the root mass was considerably bigger in the wheat crop treated with Newton.”
“We don’t apply any starter fertilisers so rooting is crucial for us to optimise nutrient-use-efficiency and help during the drier periods.
Gerry believes his no-till system benefits from the Newton kick-start because it helps the seed to germinate quickly as well as hunker down in the soil.
Yield gain of 0.3 t/ha
“The establishment benefits, together with the extra 0.3 t/ha yield benefit we gained, means we’ll be having all our winter cereal seed treated with Newton this autumn.”
But it’s not just wheat where Gerry has seen a benefit, he’s also applied Newton to spring oats.
“The crop was really fast out of the ground to emerge. I believe spring crops require that little extra to move them on especially given we’re on sandy soils and June has been very dry.”
Grow healthier crops with Newton Biostimulant seed treatment
By boosting seeds, Newton can help stimulate your crops to thrive so you can achieve the best possible start this autumn.
You can find out more about Newton here.
Our new guide is packed full of trials data, feedback and info on how to apply and buy Newton – you can download it here.
Please get in touch with Stuart below if you have any questions and need help.
