Hybrid Fertilisers

Ausmin have developed what I would consider a reasonable hybrid granular starter fertiliser - a terrific start for those aiming towards a more biological approach, but excitingly, a more cost-effective approach too. It consists of an acid activated rock phosphate, with good levels of soluble, citrate-available and slow release phosphorus; and combined with their signature Alroc mineral granule which provides a lovely dose of trace minerals. Where nitrogen is required, this blend is fortified with black urea (ie urea coated with humates). The range is called Platinum P and comes in the following N-P-K combinations: 0-7-0 ($451inc), 5-7-0 ($665.50inc), 10-5-0 ($698.50), 6-12-0 + Zn ($907.50inc), 9-5-7 ($825inc), 12-4-12 + minerals ($863.50inc). All prices are per tonne bulk ex Ipswich Qld. Contact me for rate recommendations and orders.

China Goes Organic

China is heading towards Australia for its organic produce because Chinese consumers see Australia as the benchmark in the production of ‘safe food'. In response the Chinese government has released a tender for the delivery of biological training for farmers and are actively seeking people to train biological farming.

Pastures From Space

For those who enjoy playing on the computer....the Pastures from Space program provides estimates of pasture production during the growing season by means of remote sensing. Satellite data is used to accurately and quantitatively estimate Pasture Biomass or Feed On Offer (FOO) or combined with climate and soil data is used to produce Pasture Growth Rate (PGR) estimates.

Farming a Climate Change Solution

This is hot off the press and its brilliant! The latest Ecos magazine (Issue 141) features Dr. Christine Jones with the following title and lead in: Farming A Climate Change Solution. Farmers have a golden solution to global warming largely missed by climate change pundits, right beneath their feet. The innovative Australian Soil Carbon Accreditation Scheme is showing how incentive payments can be received by landholders for measurable increases in soil carbon that soaks up CO2 from the atmosphere. Financial incentives could help fund soil restoration efforts, which in turn bring the bonus of greater productivity, drought resilience and even rain. The action is deep underground. Buy a copy now or contact me for a copy. It should be up on the Ecos website soon.

GM Helping Climate Change?

Of course increasing soil carbon requires no high-tech expensive inputs, and certainly not GM, but unfortunately the Federal Government is using climate change to promote their support of GM...

Garnaut Review

There have been some wonderful submissions to the Garnaut Climate Change Review under the title: Landuse - Agriculture and Forestry. For starters look up Ward and Lovell who link back to a wonderful presentation on land management that I posted up under Land Management Does Work back in December. I will link to other pertinent submissions as they get posted up on site. They are wonderful and encouraging readings.

Consumers Don't Want GM

Not sure where or how the Vitamin A in this article is made, but I would personally head towards 'real' food as the primary source. However, I found this article interesting because of the great efforts food and supplement companies are going to to avoid GM inputs - their customers simply don't want it.

And perhaps a case of reading between the lines, but I find it curious that pro-GMers are arguing the same point in Europe - ie Europe is being left behind....obviously along with Australia. And interestingly those countries that have the most GM advantage (USA and Argentina) are the one's taking the EU to task for not taking it up. Surely if you are out-competing the rest of the world in the marketplace, you would be happy to take the competitive advantage and sit tight? Or is the advantage actually in seed sales, not the actual production of commodities??? Good for company, bad for farmer???

Confused Consumer Desires

There seems to be a lot of confusion between how a consumer may perceive a word and what its official definition might be. For example, 'natural' and 'humane' can apparently conjure up very different images and meanings. And to top that off, consumers often rank their desire for 'natural' products high, but when it comes to purchases, price often still dictates. This problem was highlight in a recent survey of ground beef in the US.

GM Segregation Unavoidable

Prof Paul Gepts, a plant geneticist at the University of California, Davis, said past experience suggests that "contamination" events cannot be avoided. "Gene flow is really a regular occurrence among plants. So if you put a gene out there it's going to escape. This is an interesting article more about future GM crops that may include drugs, hormones, vaccines and industrial chemicals, but surely the contamination issue is just as pertinent to our current GM crops.

Hidden Horrors of Abbattoirs

The US Department of Agriculture ordered the recall of 64.9 million kg of beef! - the largest recall in the history of the country - after video shot by the Humane Society of America came to light. The treatment of cattle were appalling and rules were broken. You would hope that such a recall would help improve the situation.

Drugging Our Waters

There is more evidence of man-made chemicals being flushed into our waterways that are even changing the sex of fish. Women taking birth control pills excrete estrogen in their urine, which is flushed down the toilet and ends up in the ocean. The same is true of antidepressants, tranquilizers, anti-inflammatory medicine and other drugs, as well as musk fragrances, sunscreens, soaps and additives to plastics - compounds known to mimic or disrupt hormones. This doesn't include what is flushed down from urban runoff.

Cheryl Kemp BD Newsletter

This is the first of Cheryl's Conscious Awareness e-zines which runs through planetary alignments, expected changes with biodynamic farming and more on the chlorine dioxide (MMS) healing story. She will be touring Western Australia (Perth and south) in early March and South Australia (Adelaide) in mid-March - feel free to contact her and catch up! CK E-zine 1 14/02/2008,07:34 79.00 Kb

FarmingforProfit School

The RCS FarmingforProfit School has been developed by farmers for farmers. This course has evolved from the highly successful Bio-Business Farming school and now encompasses the latest technology and cropping principles. It also includes the business and land resource management principles which are so highly regarded in the world renowned GrazingforProfit school. Schools will be held in Dubbo 7th - 13th April and Cowra 11th-17th August.

Maarten Stapper Seminar

Maarten Stapper will be at the Spring Ridge NSW Country Club this Wednesday (20th February) to cover remediation of soil degradation, required changes in agricultural science and practice, increasing soil biology and carbon, reducing dependency on oil products and input costs, and quantifying soil health in the paddock. Participants are encouraged to bring along their own soil/plant samples to the day and ask questions freely during Maarten's presentation.

Power of Engagement

Communication is essential to every aspect of our lives, yet so many of us do not do it well: we do not engage, we do not listen and frequently we do not understand. In addition we are negotiating 24 hours a day seven days a week with someone: frequently ourselves, and again we often do not do this well. This two-day course is based on the very successful Negotiators Toolkit Seminar and will be held in Toowoomba 16-17 April and Brisbane 4-5 June.

ConFarm 08

Conservation Farmers Inc. are holding a conference and field day in Moree 13th -14th March. The conference on the 13th will cover gene technology, building crop and pasture systems, emerging technologies in agriculture, managing water, drought planning and succession planning, property planning and property risk assessment. There will be lots of machinery and guest speakers at the field day on the 14th.

Health

Candy Competing with Energy Drinks

Buzz-inducing candy, spiked with caffeine and, often, vitamins, are the U.S. candy, gum and chocolate industry's answer to surging competition from energy drinks. And just like those beverages, the caffeine-infused candy often sports a controversial name that critics say evokes illegal drugs. It is left to parents to monitor what children eat...

Bacteria and Cancer

New studies are revealing that certain cancers may be reduced by exposure to disease-causing bacteria and viruses. In fact this is an old idea that was dismissed as black magic, but is now being revived again. It implies that our cleaner, infection-free lifestyles may be contributing to the rise in certain cancers over the last 50 years.

Bird Flu Hoax

Last year, the number of human cases of avian flu dropped rather than rose for the first time - from a paltry 115 in 2006 to an even more insignificant 86 in 2007. According to a vaccine specialist at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, "H5 viruses have been around for 100 years and never caused a pandemic and probably never will." The flu vaccine manufacturers must be laughing all the way to the bank.

Life Expectancy

Most people assume that when life expectancy figures are presented they point to human life being extended over time, but in fact the Australian Bureau of Statistics sets the record straight by pointing out that the figure is generally due to a reduction in infant mortality (at the other end of life span)...

Sofenica - Part 31

As a follow up to a Sofenica Part 15, 16 and 17 where I berate the situation with solar disincentives - a law has now been passed whereby customers in South Australia who install solar panels on their rooftops will now be paid twice the value of electricity they put back into the grid. Not the mere dollar for dollar deal currently working in most states.

"The challenge is now for Australia's other state and territory governments to follow South Australia's lead and adopt a solar feed-in tariff and in turn help in creating a nation powered by solar, " said Brooke Miller, regional director for BP Solar Australasia.

I like the idea of our existing grid being serviced by the sun (and perhaps wind and water). Little electricity powerhouses scattered everywhere. An option that is becoming more and more attractive.

Events

For all February events

For all March events

* Maarten Stapper Seminar, Spring Ridge NSW 20th February 2008.

* ConFarm 08 - Moree NSW 13th - 14th March 2008.

* FarmingforProfit School - Dubbo NSW 7th - 13th April 2008.

* Power of Engagement, Toowoomba Qld 16th - 17th April 2008.

* Power of Engagement, Brisbane Qld 4th - 5th June 2008.

* FarmingforProfit School - Cowra NSW 11th-17th August 2008.

Postscript

Hampshire police thought it would be a good idea to advertise on the rear of a bus. Their planning did not take into account the position of the exhaust pipe!