Karl Cook

Testimonials

"Whatever you're doing, keep doing it, because the dairy guys love your hay," says hay broker

ROBERTS, IDAHO - Karl Cook

"There were places where the water

run-off was terrible. In some spots

the water wouldn't penetrate at all.

I had dead spots. There was a problem

big-time on this ground and I knew it.

We were running the pivots at

50-60% speed in order to get the

water through."

Then one day he read in Progressive Hay Grower about some guys in Nevada who had similar problems and were solving them through the application of microbials. He made a phone call and decided that what they were doing was something he wanted to try on all of his fields.

"I started using the microbial approach right from the start. I noticed changes slowly happening the first year and by the second and third year we eliminated water runoff completely. We got the water down where it needed to be and we now run the pivots at 12%." And as a benefit to increased water retention, the hay yield has increased from the five to six ton/acre range to seven ton/acre, with many fields as high as 7.5 tons/acre.

On a land swap trade deal with a neighbor, this year Karl applied BACTIFEED on 800 acres near Blackfoot that they have never farmed before. They disked this field and the neighbor's farm directly across the road. Karl relates, "I couldn't believe the difference in soil texture between the two acreages. Our ground was fine and mellow and his had

big hard clods. I am going to work on him so when I get that land back in three years I'll have the benefits there."

"My hay broker says our hay is more palatable. He told me, 'whatever you are doing, keep doing it, because the dairy guys love your hay.'"

The return on investment in microbial application is paying obvious dividends

to Karl in his haying operations. And he is very pleased with the results.

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