Recently there was a comment on our online chat...
"This is not evidence-based"
That was it.
My first thought was "you have got to be kidding! Seaweed is one of the most researched organisms on our planet. There have been thousands of studies through agriculture in Australia and all over the world over many decades specifically testing its effect on animals and grown plants, not to mention all of those who are researching seaweed as an alternative bio-fuel and plastic, different farming types for carbon sequestration... it just goes on and on!"
But hang on.
What is there on our own website that proves what we say?
Okay, for many growers seeing is believing.
Spraying it onto farming crops or fruit trees, or feeding it to your animals and seeing the difference for yourself is enough. Has your plum tree yielded juicy red plums? Is your peach tree glowing with fresh fruit? How are your farm crops looking? The proof of seaweed is in the pudding!
And that's true for us as well. We've been doing this for so long and I cannot begin to tell you the things we have seen - stock saved from drought, CCS in sugar cane going gang-busters, baby goats surviving birth, wheat crops fully a foot higher even though it was the crop before that had been sprayed with seaweed, fruit trees free of bugs while the orchard and citrus trees next door are infested...
But where is the actual, tried and tested concrete scientific evidence?
Well, I'm going to give you some links to a few scientific studies.
I hope there's one that suits you and what you do, but if not just start searching. There are literally thousands of scientific papers available online.
So let the research begin........................!
This is an in-depth but fairly broad article about how Ascophyllum nodosum extracts (such as Seaperia) can minimise the agricultural and horticultural chemical footprint into the future
https://www.researchgate.net/p...
Here is another that is reasonably easy to read but will also satisfy the more scientific among us with links to many research articles... you could end up down a rabbithole
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00655/full
About increased frost tolerance
http://link.springer.com/artic...
About grapes & harvested produce
https://www.researchgate.net/p...
About betaines and chlorophyll
http://link.springer.com/artic...
About iodine and pseudomonas in milk dairy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
About beef cattle and pasture
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r...
Pigs, lambs , chickens immune response, lactating mare's stress
https://www.google.com/patents...
About increased antioxidants in pasture
https://www.researchgate.net/p...
About seaweed extracts used on Australian farms
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
About seaweed for animal health and productivity
https://www.researchgate.net/p...
About growth, yield and quality of sugar cane
http://www.researchjournal.co....
About goats and stress
https://www.sciencedirect.com/...
About dental health in dogs
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
About plants and drought stress
https://www.frontiersin.org/ar...
About sheep, specifically lactating ewes
https://www.researchgate.net/p...
About anti-bacterial, anti fungal, anti inflammatory, antibiotic properties
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
So that's just a little taste of what's out there.
Science, agriculture and horticulture study has only just begun to understand the complex mechanisms behind what farmers have known for centuries - that Seaweed boosts health.
That is a fact - proven on crop farms and in scientific studies worldwide.
At the same time, it is becoming more and more apparent that Seaweed also has real potential to solve many of our modern world's problems, by improving soil health, capturing carbon, replacing plastic packaging and helping eliminate fossil fuels.
But you know what?
You and I don't need science to prove to us that SEAWEED IS AMAZING!
We already know.
Blog post by Liz
Top photo - Southern Cross University Gold Coast Campus, taken on our visit to the Australian Regenerative Farming Conference 2018.
Southern Cross Uni have the first Regenerative Agriculture Degree in the world and are seriously committed to researching and advancing regenerative farming systems.