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Extract from Organic Advantage Ed. 119 (BFA e-newsletter) April 2009
Turning soil around is just a
small matter of well applied microbes, according to Rhonda Daly of YLAD Living
Soils.
If anyone knows, she will.
Last year, on-farm
trials of YLAD's
humified compost applications returned results that have prompted even the most
chemical intensive operators to consider alternatives.
''We saw the base saturation
of calcium on a farm in lease country lifted by 12 % (from 38 % to 50 %) in the space of a
year,'' says
Rhonda.
''And a dairy
farmer in Wagga who put 120 kg of urea in one paddock, and compost and gypsum in
the other produced higher, greener pasture in the composted paddock, with no
nitrogen use whatsoever.
''This is something we're incredibly excited to
witness - it's evidence farmers
don't have to wait five or ten
years to restore the structure of their soil if they start now, and are
genuinely committed to methods that emphasise soil health as a top priority.''
She says even organic
farmers could look harder at how to handle the small things in their soil
life.
''I do
think there are instances where organic farmers focus just on the 'lack of' synthetic farm chemicals, and not
enough on regenerating their soil, humus, and microbial activity.''
She says the benefit of
humified compost in particular is in the processing - beginning with the decomposition
of plant and animal feedstock by microbial and thermophilic (heat) methods, and followed by the
build-up of long chain
polymers of humus which contain beneficial microbial population.
''Organic matter is not
humus unless it has been through the body of a microbe,'' she says.
''I'm not a great advocate of raw
manure - there tends
to be a high level of nitrate, which actually burns out organic matter.
''Humified
compost by comparison is produced over a 10 week aerobic controlled cycle,
creating an optimal environment for microbes to flourish.
''Microbes then actively
multiple when applied to soil.''
Rhonda says interest in
the humified compost process over the past 12 months has flourished from all
sectors - ''humified compost
has gone on everything from broad acre, viticulture and pasture, to
horticultural operations.''
She says it
indicates many Australian farmers are ready for change.
''We've set up 24 compost
turners round Australian over the past two and a half years, and people are
beginning to make it locally for themselves.''
She says while farmers are
beginning to understand that harsh chemicals and salt based solutions could
destroy their soil's structure,
there was still a long way to go.
''Australian farming practises still
reportedly remove around 7 tonnes of topsoil each year.''
She says once soil
balance is on the road to being restored, benefits were abundant.
''For example, we've had reports back to us that the
water-holding capacity of the
farmers' properties has raised
substantially after some months of managing land under a soil health program.
''Insect
attacks on healthy plants are also less frequent. A strong plant in good soil is
much more equipped to stave off disease and
problems in its environment, naturally.
''And natural soil
restoration allows nutrients to become available to plants - they can access the phosphorous
locked in soil and nitrogen from the atmosphere.''
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