Mulloon Creek Natural Farms

Mulloon Creek Natural Farms is a grazing, cropping and carbon building enterprise covering two farms in close proximity to each other on the Mulloon Creek, east of Canberra. Both properties are organic using the biodynamic system of agriculture and MCNF is a member of the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA).

Our purpose is to be a diverse, sustainable working role model of excellence for profitable biodynamic production and landscape restoration together with outstanding research and education programmes.

Mulloon Creek Natural Farms has become a centre of learning . Courses in the theory and practice of biodynamic farming are held in liaison with the Biodynamic Education Centre run by Lynette West, a key person in our advisory team.

We already have an education and research programme established with the Australian National University 20 years ago for forestry students who are carrying out experiments and studying developments of the native bush, and we are currently discussing with ANU expanding this to other disciplines.

Our self-funding "events" programme also includes entertainment using an old barn on The Home Farm.  

A key element in our work is the rehydration of our landscape using the principles of Natural Sequence Farming developed and practiced by Peter Andrews.  We have the first National Landcare coordinated demonstration of this work on our creek. It is a model of a cooperative effort between Landcare, the Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority and us as the landowners.

Our intention is to hold courses on anything and everything that is of interest to you! Some ideas in the pipeline are Beekeeping, Permaculture, Holistic Farming Methods, Health & Wellbeing workshops, Art & Music classes. Email us with your area of interest and we'll see if we can make it happen for you.  

Trees for Earth

Matt Kilby - Principal

Trees for Earth - was established and has continued to refine the art of tree planting by expanding on a successful polyculture tree planting strategy and incorporating soil health principles utilising mineral and microbe balancing. As a result, Trees For Earth has developed the unique Plant Pink Tree Planting System that is achieving up to 97% tree survival rates in commercial timber plantations and other nursery and regeneration projects.

To ensure exceptionally high survival rates of tree seedlings,Trees For Earth recommend the complete Plant Pink Tree Planting System. The 8 steps are below:

The Nutri-Tech Commitment 

We are passionately committed to improving soil quality in this country. The first barrier in achieving this goal is often related to convincing you, the grower, that a change is even necessary. Many of you are already aware that something is amiss, but others are not so sure. The old cliche "Knowledge is Power" is relevant here. The "power" in agriculture relates to control over ones destiny. If you know what's happening and why it is happening, then you are empowered to do something about it. We pledge to continue our information-sharing policy and provide help and advice through newspaper articles and via our website.

Nutri-Tech Solutions Pty Ltd was established in June, 1994, with the aim of improving nutrition from the soil up. It was always intended that soil and plant nutrition would be the first priority before moving on to develop animal and human health products.

We never imagined that we would spend the first seven years developing programs and products for the soil and plants alone but this is, perhaps, a reflection of the sheer number, complexity and diversity of problems we have identified during our research. In 2001, over two hundred products later, we finally began to look at animal and human health. By Mid-2005, we had developed over 300 products including some exciting animal and human health options.

We continue to develop our emphasis on education, which is currently showcased with our four-day NTS Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture course, and numerous national and international one day courses. These education services will expand online in the near future.

There are currently over a dozen quality animal products in the range, and over 20 human health products including remarkable, proactive supplements.

We have termed our approach ‘Nutrition Farming'® and this concept may eventually be utilised as a marketing umbrella for growers seeking a genuine alternative to organics. Organics involves a long list of what you cannot do, while 'Nutrition Farming'® is all about what you can do to produce highly nutritious, medicinal food for the consumer. ‘Nutrition Farming'® is a desperately important game plan for the improvement of our health and wellbeing in Century 21 - it is the sustainable production of nutrient-dense food for the protection and sustenance of all who consume it.

Graeme Sait, CEO - Nutri-Tech Solutions Pty Ltd

Bill and Rhonda Daly

YLAD Living Soils (YLS) was established by Bill and Rhonda Daly in October 2002. It's manufacturing base and head office is in Young NSW. YLAD Living Soils now provides a large range of biological fertilisers to the eastern states of Australia.

YLAD Living Soils was established in recognition of the rapidly increasing DIS-EASE amongst farmers towards problems associated with conventional agriculture. YLS supplies biological fertilisers and soil fertility programs to support the balance of the physical, chemical nutrition and biological aspects of the soil. This balance returns the mineral and microbial life to the soil providing a healthy and sustainable environment for all life forms.

YLS distributes the product range of Nutri-Tech Solutions, the largest biological fertiliser company in Australia, with all brewing of inoculums and blending of broadcast blends taking place at Young. All products are manufactured to suit conditions of crops grown throughout Australia and are supplied to broadacre, horticulture, viticulture and livestock and organic industries.

Mission statement

To foster the improved health, productivity and sustainability of soils and implement innovative and profitable soil management and remediation solutions .

Vision: to be a leading supplier of quality biological soil amendments and ancillary services that promotes soil, plant, animal, and human health through a balanced living soil.

In 2005 Bill and Rhonda Daly attended an Advanced Composting System (ACS) Workshop in Ocala, Florida, USA with Midwest Bio-Systems, Illinois.  "From that day on it was our goal to begin producing humus compost from local waste residues for use back onto our agricultural soils.  We saw the introduction of humus compost completing the comprehensive range of biological products that we already provided through YLAD Living Soils," Rhonda said. 

In September 2006 Edwin J Blosser and Roger Kropf from Midwest Bio-Systems  facilitated four days of Workshops in Young, NSW teaching the use and benefits of humus compost in production as well as the 3 day Advanced Composting System Workshop. In March 2007 there was a return visit to enlighten producers of the benefits of humus compost and a healthy soil.  Participants attended from all over Australia as well as many local Councils.

The YLAD Living Compost facility now produces high quality humus compost using an Aeromaster Compost Turner and the ACS method.

What is Humified Compost?

Humified Compost is produced by microbial and thermophilic (heat) decomposition of plant and animal feedstock followed by microbial polymerisation or build-up of humic substances in long chain polymers of humus, containing beneficial microbial population.

The production is a 10 week aerobic controlled cycle that is consistently repeatable with predictability.  This aerobic process creates an optimal environment for aerobic microbes to flourish.  High quality humified compost builds a microbial environment in which beneficial microbes thrive and multiply.

All too often organic matter that has been simply broken down is labelled compost.  In our compost the real value comes after breakdown when long chain polymers of humus are produced by microbes that are supplemented to the compost by inoculation.  Organic matter is not humus unless it has been through the body of a microbe.

Moisture guard fabric covers make it possible to develop quality compost even in poor weather conditions and reduce leaching in wet weather conditions.

Extensive quality control testing of Humified Compost shows it far exceeds current industry standards.  The finished compost is no longer waste or residue it is a high value natural, humus-based soil builder.

It's unique maturity and stability lends itself to a myriad of uses and applications across a diverse range of soil based industries.  Demand for Humified Compost and Compost Mineral Blends is rapidly growing because of its all-round leading edge performance in creating healthy, balanced, highly fertile soils.

The microbial profile in the soil is influenced by the microbial environment of the compost.   We need to ensure that these species are beneficial to plant growth, yield and quality.

High quality humified compost is the 'glue' that holds the pieces of a sustainable soil fertility system together.  Humic substances also exert magnetic forces that expand clay colloids increasing soil porosity.

The Value of Humus Soil Technology

1. The value of humified compost comes from its ability to restore or enhance biological activity in the soil.
2. Positively impacts all three aspects of the soil, eg mineral balance, micro-biology and physical
3. Humified Compost is truly the keystone to balancing soil nutrition, building a diverse population of soil biology and improving soil structure - the foundation of all broadcast blends.
4. Humified Compost is packed with a diverse range of soil microbes, along with their food source and their house - humus.  This ensures that the microbes can multiply when applied to your soil (1,2,4,8,16,32, etc.) ensuring you get more than you paid for.
5. It also contains good levels and forms of phosphorus and all measurable trace minerals.  Additional nutrients added to Humified Compost are more effective and can therefore be applied at lower rates. 

Benefits of Compost Mineral Blends

Compost mineral blends are custom designed for each client. 

By blending minerals with humus or (long chain polymers) each mineral particle is coated like an insulator keeping that mineral from fighting with each other and keeping minerals from tying up and out of balance.  Mixing the fertiliser with humified compost allows those minerals to chemically react with the humic acids in the compost.  The resulting humic salts are very plant available yet bound to the humus, minimising leaching and evaporation.

Mixing soil applied nutrients with Humified Compost ensures they are available for soil, microbe and plant use whenever there is moisture in the soil.  It also buffers any adverse affects individual nutrients may have in the soil in their raw form.

The fertiliser is utilised more efficiently thus less is required to grow the same crop.

Humus has a much stronger magnetic attraction to itself for every mineral known to man, even more then minerals themselves.

Three issues we have to address with conventional farming are:

If minerals are not coated with humus when the mineral touches the root it becomes bare creating an unbalanced and unhealthy plant with low nutritional value.

Benefits of Humified Compost

• Increases active organic carbon in the soil
• Sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
• Improves soil structure creating more pore space, allowing more oxygen into the soil, creating the ideal environment for root growth and microbial multiplication
• Increases beneficial microbes in soil to fight disease and extract nutrients
• Builds healthier root systems to extract nutrients from the soil in a plant available form
• Reduces water use increases water holding capacity
• Nutrient holding capacity - less leaching of nutrients into waterways and rivers and the atmosphere
• Less nitrogenous fertilisers - less nitrous oxide into the atmosphere
• Humus holds 4 times amount water, reducing water use by up to one half.
• Improves salinity by adding humus
• A healthy plant in a healthy soil develops antibodies and chemicals which shun the insects.

  The greater the microbial population in the rhizosphere, the greater the nutrient extraction by the plant

A plant's roots excrete sugars that feed microbial species that will, in turn, help the roots extract needed minerals from the soil. The relationship between soil microbes and plant roots is a complex chemical conversation with the roots asking for the minerals needed at that specific point in the growing cycle and the microbes responding

Example Program of Compost Mineral Blend

For use in Broadacre, Horticulture, Viticulture, Turf & Vegetables

The minerals that are added into a Compost Mineral Blend are determined by soil test results.

The first things considered from the soil test results are: CEC, Base Saturation levels and Organic Matter and. Secondly, the major and minor traces are examined to determine if any extra minerals need to be added to the blend.

An example blend for soil remediation would contain:

• 500kg/1 tonne ha Humified Compost

• 150kg/ha Gypsum

• 500kg/ha Lime

• 80kg/ha Soft Rock Phosphate

In this example the soil test would have shown a high level of hydrogen, low calcium, low phosphorous & high potassium.  The compost rate can be mixed at as low as 300kg/ha. This is the minimum rate to gain any measurable benefit and increase water holding capacity.

• The humic acid portion of the compost will expand the clay colloid in the soil creating a porous structure, allowing more oxygen and water to penetrate, alleviating the problems of the compacted soils.
• Lime is added to the compost to balance the cations, the nutrients supplied in this system are plant available and less likely to leach.
• Mineral nutrients blended with humified compost are bonded to and buffered by the available humic compounds and acids facilitating absorption by plant roots. 
• The gypsum is added to fizz the clay colloid allowing for the correct balance of cations to settle back, alleviating the high levels of potassium.
• Gypsum is also a good source of sulphur.
• The humus portion of the compost holds 4 times its weight in water increasing the soil's water management capacity, increasing porosity of the soil, reducing any run-off, slowing evaporation and decreasing mineral leaching.
• As well as the benefits above the humified compost contains a large population of beneficial microbes and has been inoculated with supplemental microbial species to enhance its soil fertility value. 
• These microbes also deliver a large dose of their by-products - enzymes, root stimulants, and the humic compounds that they produce.  These beneficial microbes also help the plant's root system absorb minerals.

Applications of compost mineral blends in conjunction with good management practices are able to balance minerals, increase soil biology and improve soil structure. The advantages of these changes include better water holding capacity, better mineral availability for crops and ultimately healthier plants and animals.

YLAD Living Soils now have 19 Aeromaster compost turners around Australia and NZ as well. They set up other people to be able to produce their own Humified Compost.

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