Josh Dowe

“Mycorrcin gives consistent yields even in challenging seasons” – Josh Dowe, Tamworth barley grower.

Josh Dowe describes getting a crop to harvest as, “A challenge in the best of years and almost impossible in a drought,” on his a dryland cropping farm on light soils near Tamworth.

Looking for solutions, Josh decided to try the soil biostimulant Mycorrcin to improve his soil biology. He hoped to bring his crops through in the 2019 drought year.

Josh explains, “In the 2019 season there was 30mm of rain in late May and I applied Mycorrcin at 2L/ha along with some fine lime and fish fertiliser on to the moist soil. A week later, I sowed barley at 36kg/ha (which is lower than the regional average) along with 80 kg starter fertiliser (15-12-12). There was 36 mm of rain over the season in a series of small falls.”

At harvest Josh says, “The neighbours, who had sown at a higher sowing density, didn’t get the harvester out of the shed.”
Meanwhile Josh headed 1.5 T/ha, some of which was able to be graded and sold as seed barley.

He also noted, “My surrounding neighbours needed to do a fungicide spray while my crops were healthy all the way through and only had a slight brush with disease that the crop was able to grow through on its own.”

Josh now uses Mycorrcin regularly as he has found that improving the soil biology, alongside the usual chemical inputs, gives him more reliable yields and that his crops are more consistently saleable.

When Biostart Mycorrcin is applied at or before sowing, it stimulates beneficial soil microbes that improve root growth and facilitate nutrient uptake. This leads to faster crop establishment and growth and the increased root growth adds organic matter to the soil naturally which helps restore soil structure and water holding capacity and benefits future crops.

“This photo is from my worst yielding paddock that also has the lightest soil type in it. I am pleased with how it is coming along and the root zone on the plants throughout the growing season was brilliant.”