The story of Fertilizer in New Zealand - Environmental News

In 1996 I received a copy of an article published by Environmental News. On re-reading this article recently I decided it is just as relevant now as then, and with thanks to Environmental News I reprint it below.

What is fertiliser? Fertilizer is something that boosts fertility or makes fertile! What we put in our pastures must do just that and not just perform like a steroid or stimulant. It must nurture not only the plant but the animal that lives on it, and the predator that live on the animal – i.e. US. It must also nurture the soil life, the bacteria, the fungi and the earthworms because these are the very basis of soil activity, and the ensuring health of what the soil produces.

FIRST of all, let us examine the basics – and the first basic fact is that New Zealand was essentially a forest ecology in its natural state. Like all forests a high rainfall is needed to support it. Forests are self-sustaining, in that they are predominantly foliar feeders. They have a wide, shallow root system for feeding close to the surface. The foliage and woody matter decomposition takes place above ground in the very thin but very rich humus layer which is continually replaced by the foliage above. Take away the humus layer and you have very infertile and fairly sterile soils.

THE second basic fact is that grasslands thrive in areas of lower rainfall. They have a much denser root system, a deep topsoil layer and a very active underground. It takes down litter and breaks it down, plus grasslands support a much denser animal population which creates a much more varied type of matter to break down.

THE third basic fact is that in New Zealand we have destroyed a forest environment, established a grasslands environment but continued to feed it via a forest system – i.e. throw some stuff on the surface, and don’t worry about the underground livestock which is the basis of a sustainable system.

THE fourth basic fact is that nature provides the elements which make up, by far, the greatest proportion of a plant. The elements are free from the air – carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, Sulphur and nitrogen – the rest of the elements are trace elements (they actually consist of less than 2% of the plant).

LET’S lay to rest once and for all the BALANCE SHEET THEORY (which was propounded by a German Scientist called Leibig who refuted its validity before his death). This theory, which is still taught and held dear by most New Zealand Agricultural Institutes, states (to paraphrase) “that what goes off the land in plants and livestock must be replaced by equal amounts of fertiliser”. That, at first, appears common sense and logical, but it takes no account of plant waste, animal waste and soil activity. It assumes that the soil is an inert mass, which of course, it isn’t. Hydroponics work on this principal, and very well, but this theory is no longer valid in the outdoors.

THE fifth basic fact is that plants need 16 or 17 elements to survive in a healthy state, and animals, in the main need, at least, some 28. Luckily for us plants will uptake some of these elements, that they don’t need, and these elements are then available to the animal that ingests the plant. Selenium is probably the most widely known element in this category. It is vital to animal life yet plants don’t need it.

LET us now look at what a grass consists of. It varies slightly from grass to grass, and to climate conditions but it is roughly, 90% water; 9% carbon and free oxygen; .92% nitrogen, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and Sulphur, and finally .08% (which are found in parts per million in bulk), iron, copper, zinc, boron, manganese, molybdenum, chlorine and in some cases cobalt.

NOW the next important part of the jigsaw is where do these elements come from and how do they become plant available? These elements come from the air, and via rainfall, from the underlying rock structure, from decaying plant and animal matter, and from outside application by artificial means – fertilizer!

SOUTH AFRICAN research (done on the High Veldt to minimize the effect of the sea) shows that the air can deliver, via the rain, the equivalent per acre of 30lbs of Nitrogen; 22lbs of Phosphorous; 338 lbs of Calcium and 41lbs of Sulphur. It has been calculated that above each hectare in New Zealand there is 20,000kg of Nitrogen and in each hectare there is 500kg of Phosphorous (with more coming up), 22-25,000 kg of Potassium in the top 18cm (7”) and that the rain deposits 46kg of Sulphur each year, depending on rainfall. All of these FREE “goodies” are of little use to you unless you have the soil microfauna to convert them into plant useable form.

To become available to the plants they have to be in a plant soluble form, and that often means a different form from their natural state. Plants aren’t keen on raw phosphorous (it actually burns the hell out of them) but they do like ammonium phosphates. Raw Sulphur doesn’t excite them either but sulphates do, and so it goes on. So how do the forms we apply to the fields get into the forms the plants thrive on? it’s quite simple. The underground livestock consisting of worms, bacteria and fungi do it for us and their workshop is the decaying humus surface. So you can now begin to understand just how vital these little beasties are for our wellbeing. In fact, Hugh Kirton, the well-known Dairy Board Farm Advisor, always said that you need as much, if not more, livestock under the ground than you do on top.

BACTERIAL activity on the humus faces creates the climate to enable the breakdown of the raw material. If converts the raw
material into the plant available forms, and this activity in turn stimulates other bacteria, which then stimulates root activities, and the uptake process. The bacteria in legume nodules fix free nitrogen into plant available forms. When they die the nitrogen is then available to other plants. Incidentally, healthy, active clover nodules should be plentiful. They should be the size of ant eggs and a pinky colour when crushed. Have a look at yours! If they are not ant egg size and pinkish, you should seek the reason why. I have stressed active nodules, as at times, in drought or cold, they will be dormant.

SOIL bacteria also convert phosphorous into ammonium phosphates, Potassium into a water soluble form. The bacteria also take organic Sulphur and turn it into sulphate forms. They also use some themselves, and when they die they themselves become part of the food chain.

STOP AND PONDER this – Sulphur is a very effective antibiotic. Our plants need miniscule amounts and yet we are pouring the elemental Sulphur onto our fields in ever increasing amounts, and wiping out a large part of our underground workforce.

THE next player in our chain of underground workers is the world of fungus. Mycorrhizal fungi work in conjunction with the plants root system in several important ways. They make more water available to the plants by yielding up their water in dry conditions. They tolerate lower soil water levels, and yet absorb much more during wet periods. They act as a reservoir for the associated plant. They stimulate root absorption and stimulate growth, by the hormones they secrete. They physically form protective barriers against plant diseases, and produce antibiotics to help repair disease damage.

RESEARCH done in the USA shows that plants associated with mycorrhizal fungi absorb some 46% more Nitrogen, 165% more Phosphorous and 75% more Potassium than those without. Mycorrhizal fungi turn ordinary plants into SUPER PLANTS. They do it free and they do it naturally!

THE total population of micro-organisms in a healthy, active soil can exceed 247,000,000,000 per hectare. This is about 8967kg of underground livestock per hectare. But these “beasties” are exceedingly vulnerable to both Sulphur and excessively acid or alkaline conditions.

THE last underground worker is the one that we can see with out naked eye, the humble EARTHWORM. They do so much for us and are not really appreciated. In fact, you could almost say, that if you farm them correctly you won’t have to worry too much about anything else!

WHAT DO THEY DO FOR US? They are the biggest underground worker. They are the most active and the results of their activity can be readily seen. First of all, they physically tunnel through the earth improving the friability of the soil, which has numerous associated benefits. Their tunnel linings are very rich in nutrients, thus root development is enhanced by the ease and speed by which it can grow down the tunnel. The friability also leads to better soil moisture holding capability, and the tunnels to better soil moisture drainage in times of excessive wet. The tunnels, combined with friability, mean extra availability of water in the dry. They aerate the soil, and take waste matter from the surface under ground where the bacteria can work on it. Because of all the above activity they also improve the cycling of nutrients through the soil. In fact, if you have a healthy worm population, you get 17% more moisture penetration, and 12-25% more moisture absorption. Their physical movement up and down through the soil enables a deeper topsoil to develop, and deeper root development. Their work has a vital role to play in soil particle size, both in adding humus and mixing work – particles too large and the surface tension is not strong enough to hold water to it – particles too small mean the surface water mingles with the next one and a soggy mass ensues. A rough rule of thumb is that if you have plenty of earthworms in your soil, then, conditions are probably such that you will have plenty of micro-organisms as well. MAF research has shown that an earthworm population of only 300 per square metre will give a production increase of dry matter in the vicinity of 25-30%, but we continue to pour acidic products onto our land which wipes them out in the equivalent of an earthworm holocaust.

WE establish friendly conditions by firstly getting the pH somewhere between 5.6 and 6.5. This can be dome by the application of lime, which incidentally seems to benefit the earthworms who use a fair amount of calcium. Once having attained this pH, the soil needs humus for the interactions which the earthworms will build up for you! However, should you then pile some acidic product onto your soil, you will halt or reverse the process, as the soil life is very adverse to acids.
IF you doubt me, after rain, have a wander around a farm that has been recently dressed with superphosphate and see the amount of dead earthworms. Let me stress here, that it is not the P content that does the damage but the acid residue that is left in the filler material which constitutes some 90%+ of your standard product. Superphosphate, after all, was designed as an acid product to suit European alkaline soils. It is just a pity that New Zealand has predominantly acid soils! Each time you wipe out soil fauna it doers recover to a certain extent, but like our fisheries there comes a certain critical biomas which is too small to carry the recovery. Your whole system then collapses, as it has done in parts of Europe where their soils are as friable and active as cold plasticine.

THE next step is to use a neutral fertilizer product, with the full range of minerals and trace elements that are needed by the crop or animal that you are harvesting. If you harvest animals you need some 28 of them, and if you harvest crops you need only 17, so select your fertiliser with care. If you use an NPKS fertiliser you really do limit the ability of your plant and animal to perform at its best. Of course, you can correct deficiencies with injections, drenches, powders and licks but it makes economic sense to ensure animal/plant health by giving it all the “goodies” in the fertilizing program..

I HAVE heard claims that the filler material used in certain solid fertilizers contain all the minerals and trace elements, but I have yet to see an analysis. As the filler varies from Company to Company I am just a little bit skeptical of their claims. The natural reactive rock phosphates that are on the market, without added optional extras, do no damage at all but will tend not to work to their potential if you do not have the micro life to do your conversion job for you.

AT THIS stage I will digress into “the amount you get”. The solid that comes through your gate on the truck is not all fertilizer! The P of 8 means only 8% is Phosphate. You then take out 15% to add 15% Potash, so your P is down to 6.8%. You take out 7% to add 7% Sulphur, so you now have 6.4% P and if you have any additives it reduces your base even further. You also pay to cart and spread the filler product which is purported to contain “trace elements”. With liquids you will get a concentrated brew to which you add water – the filler component. No natural seaweed or fish based fertilizer should have an NPK of more than 5.2.2, if it has, it has been chemically boosted. That is okay – as long as you are aware. By applying the chemical, in conjunction with the water and the natural base, it tends to nullify the harsh unwelcome side effects you get when applying straight chemical. For instance, you will be aware of the lull in growth after the first few weeks of Nitrogen application in the popular bag form. This is basically because excess Nitrogen enhances activity on the humus interfaces, and quickly uses all the available humus. Before recovery of the humus can take place you will need to have an active soil life again.

DURING the war in England, Nitrogen was pumped into the ground which completely destroyed the soil structure, thus collapsing the ground into a hard pan for aeroplane runways. A paddock that has had constant applications of bag Nitrogen will show signs of chemical compaction. Other raw chemical fertilisers have even worse secondary effects. Incidentally, Phosphates are one of the most widely spread pollutants on the planet today, and in parts of Europe you have to get a special permit to even use them.

FARMERS in New Zealand accept the fact that a small amount of spray can clean out a pasture – i.e. Roundup. But they still listen to propaganda that says a similar amount of liquid fertiliser can’t nurture that same amount of pasture. Volume for volume of
“goodies” (not the amount of visual stuff on the truck) you probably put about the same amount per square metre with solids as against reputable liquids. Overseas the proportion of liquid to solid fertiliser used is about the reverse of what it is here. New Zealand is one of the last bastions of solid fertiliser users in the world today, and that is due to a long history of propaganda and misinformation by some Companies and Government Agencies.

THE advantages of using a reputable liquid fertilizer, which suits your needs, are many. Because they nurture nature and provide a full range of necessary elements, the benefits are well documented. A few benefits are: less surface litter which means less habitat for facial eczema spores’ better soil drainage in the wet; better capillary action to bring water up in the dry; deeper top soil and deeper rooting which prevents pulling in the dry and speeds recovery once it rains; quieter and more productive stock because of a better quality grass; more grass, after a while, and a more balanced diet; less bloat; less empty stock and less metabolic diseases because of better diet – the list of benefits just goes on! What it all boils down to is that simple formula – “harness nature and let her do her best for us”.

I HAVE a “gripe” with the liquid fertilizer industry, in that they push as their main benefit cost savings in cash outlay instead of the cost savings in more output per head; less vet bills and less farmer stress.

THE RATES that most liquid fertilizer manufacturers recommend are usually minimum rates only – I would suggest that you use those rates only some years down the track. Initially I would recommend you spend the same money on liquids, as you did on solids, after all you are creating the climate for nature to do her best for you. It won’t happen overnight, but, after three years you should be up and enjoying the benefits, and the extra income that follows. However, do ensure that you get the liquid fertiliser that fits your needs. I would suggest that if you farm livestock then you definitely need a fish based concentrate. Even if you grow fruit or crops, there is a place for the fish based fertilizers as the end user of your produce is people, and I have heard many claims that using fish has meant tastier, earlier maturing product.