How good is your soil? How do you know if you need fertilizer

There are living soils and there are dead soils.

A living soil contains billions of micro-organisms which break down minerals, feed on dead plant and animal materials, break down proteins, sugars, fatty substances, starches, cellulose etc, and liberate nitrogen, carbon dioxide and mineral elements in a plant available form. This natural process enables the plant to utilise not only the nutrients already available in the soil or supplied by the farmer but also, most importantly, the estimated thousands of kilograms of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, sulphur etc which are available from the air via the rainfall and from the underlying rock structure.

Dead soils are those where the cycle has been broken, the natural process has ceased to operate and the soil has been decimated of micro-organisms, bacteria and earthworms. The cycle of these organisms interacting with plants and plant roots to create a deep friable soil with a high humus content has stopped, and it’s time to take a long look and the soil and fertilizing program.

It is essential to make full use of your most valuable and abundant resource – the soil. A plentiful supply of soil micro organisms and earthworms is fundamental to healthy high producing plants and pasture leading to healthy high yielding stock. Soil structure, moisture and mineral availability, fertilizer utilisation, creation of humus are some of the
roles played by this unpaid workforce. But, unpaid or not, like any other livestock they need nourishing and protecting before the vicious circle of increasing convention fertilizer inputs to maintain falling or static yields starts affecting profits.

Organic based fish or blood & bone fertilizers are not a new concept. Our intricate manufacturing process is designed to simulate nature’s own soil processes. When we blend a natural base of fish with natural Triacontanol and with Giberellic Acid, and add twenty-two additional plant enriching ingredients, we produce a proven three-way system which will sustain and improve essential soil bacteria, nourish protect and extend the top soil, and promote vigorous healthy plant growth. And a fertiliser which does not leach to contaminate our waterways.

A mix of anecdotal and trial information tells us of improved pasture mineral content, dry matter per Ha, metabolisable energy, improved clover regeneration, higher pasture brix levels, cleaner pastures with less litter and quieter more productive stock with less metabolic problems.