Testimonials

Here is a brief summary of what we have observed after applying BDmax's Photomax. We applied it at 250mls/ha in 2 paddocks. In both paddocks we sprayed the back half of the paddocks, and not the front half.

There was a definite preference from the animals to graze the 'photomax' areas. This lasted 2 grazing a month apart, where it was obvious. Before the first grazing I also observed a brix difference of 2 points, I didn't measure it before the second grazing.
There was 1000 litre increase in production after the 2nd grazing, compared to the previous 2 day pickup, this production subsequently held thereafter so I am unsure as to whether this was due to photomax or seasonal variations.
I'm keen to try some more trials with the BDMax products as I think they can aid our dairy farm operation.

R.D - Dairy Farmer - Waikato NZ

Used the last of the Silicamax this morning. Cows going very well on it and Mike can tell by the way the cows milk and how much is in the vat whether the pasture has had a recent application of Silicamax or not. Calving was a little late getting of the mark this season compared to previous seasons so the season’s production was behind last season up until the end of August and now we are romping away over 11% ahead of last year. This year we have had no silage like we had last year so the cows have had grass and a little bit of hay until early September when they stopped eating it.

We have come out of the drought very well as it appears have others using the preps as in B.D. Max sprays. For a while we were getting high growth while the soil was bone dry. It seems the dew must have been doing the job. As soon as the next rain has passed I will be getting the first lot of Silicamax out. K reported that after one grazing she recorded 25 mm. growth in 24 hours after grazing. 1 mm. / hour one could almost see.

I used PhotoMax once on some pasture and it lifted the brix reading significantly. It would seem that the greater the light deficit the more effectively it will work.

This year, there have been some interesting developments, while working with BdMax products, in both the uptake and reactions in pastoral farming. A sheep farm in the South Island used E15, in conjunction with home made liquid manure and some fine lime in suspension. This got growth off to a good start on the half of the farm it was applied on.

In the North Island, there have been several reports of BdMax sprays improving the quality of pasture, and animal satisfaction from grazing. What is perhaps more noticeable is that when the cows go onto a paddock that is untreated, they still try to tell the farmer a mistake was made, by putting them in that paddock. Some of the things noted are that the cows need less area, a paddock that normally would have lasted two days, after treatment the cows are in no great hurry to leave after three days. Not only are the cows taking 50% longer to cover a hectare, they trample less, so there is less damage and consequently more leaf to photosynthesise. So re-growth is noticeably faster. It is difficult to put a percentage of fodder saved or increased performance, unless one does measuring, that is not normally carried out on a working farm.

Some of my clients are treating the effluent with Etherics 1000 or Etherics 7- 1 litre poured into the pond - and spreading the effluent behind the cows, as they work their way round the farm. With the mixer/sprayer some are mixing in a little lime and well made compost and increasing the value yet again. I have recently seen on one farm, how the soil of one pasture that can go under water from time to time and was quite tight, is now beginning to fracture, forming a much better structured soil. Not only is this beginning to grow much better pasture plants, it can now hold more air and moisture.

Peter Bacchus

Have just grazed the Photomax sprayed pasture and see the cows spent most of the time on the treated side of the paddock. The cows had been having a little bloat but there was no sign of it while grazing that paddock.

J.B - Dairy Farmer - Waikato NZ

Etherics 1000 on Dairy Pasture:
The application of BdMax Etherics 1000 in the late Autumn and then followed up with SilicaMax in early Spring, has given us the ability to tweak the effects of challenging weather influences on our Dairy Farm. This has resulted in us seeing more even grazing patterns as well as more contented stock on what seems less quantity of grass.

We have a liquid fertiliser spray programme in place, and providing there is an opportunity where spraying conditions are practical, this (program) fits sensibly into this. We do not necessarily apply to the whole farm, as weather conditions change, but find great value in having a tool to use when the need is there.”

After talking with happy farmers who had used ‘PhotoMax’ and "Etherics 1000' to enhance their winter grass growth I thought it was time I tried it. I never did any scientific comparing or testing but rather chose to spray the whole farm in Autumn so as to maximise grass growth. After completing a feed assessment, I theoretically should have been short of feed over winter / spring. Instead we arrived at calving time with cows that had put on condition, some considerably, and enough grass to feed the cows through spring, along with some supplement. It was easy to apply and I'll definitely be using it annually from now on. Thank you BdMax.

Kym Davey (Te Aroha) Feb 2011

I thought you might like to hear about our orchard results using Thermomax and FG4. As you know our lemon orchard had a difficult start to life with a great deal of rabbit and possum damage during the early years. Although the trees have survived and the production has been reasonable the fruit has always had a lot of varicoses and most years the cold snaps have created a moderate amount of fruit damage.

We have applied abundant amounts of compost and had a consistent compost tea program in place since planting. Soil tests have shown good levels of nutrient in every category except zinc which we addressed about five years ago. Tissue analysis also shows excellent levels in the plant. Nothing we had done seem to help the varicoses.

Two years ago we started using FG4 as a possible solution to the varicoses. In addition we applied Thermomax prior to and during the colder parts of the winter. This year the fruit is almost completely clear of varicoses, by far the best fruit we have seen. In addition for the first time we have had no frost damage in spite of having two cold spells, one which lasted for 6 days with low temperatures of minus 3 to minus 6 every night.

Thanks so much for developing products that fill that gap between mineral and biological management, when all else failed BD Max worked!

Steven Erickson - Chaos Springs

Greetings, Rainer Eschenbruch here, just to let you know: I have used 2x ZeroIn on Pinot Noir and my other varieties-Malbec and Viognier- In the last two days we had about 100 ml rain, NO SPLITTING!!!. Pinot Noir is specifically sensitive at this stage, as it is close to ripeness. I also use RipeMax as I know from previous years how it works!

Rainer Eschenbruch - splitting control on grapes

Peter mentioned the 'best scientist you'll ever have has 4 legs & a fur coat', and how right he was!!

We were given some PhotoMax which we applied to three paddocks on the 12th May as an experiment.

We have 6 milkers doing the rounds at present getting a couple of days in each paddock.

Three days ago I put them into the treated pasture which is a lot greener than the rest of the farm.

I was amazed that I was unable to see where the girls had grazed, and even more astonished to witness their creamier & tastier milk.

They were happy to graze as soon as they got thru the gate and their udders were dripping next morning. - a real contrast to the long pasture they had been in.

I am no expert at BD, in fact I was a real sceptic not so long ago, but my 6 scientists have given the thumbs up to this miraculous product so I thought I would share their findings with you all.

I have always advocated that I can whip the butter up within a certain time frame. This process has been taking at least 30-40 minutes until we tried the cream from the BD pasture. I am back to 10 minutes again. Amazing!

I am looking forward to applying PhotoMax to the rest of the farm and following up with more BD with Peter & Glen's guidance.

Janette - Te Awamutu