Healthy soil equals healthy milk
Reading Time: < 1 minute
In order to get the desired amount and quality of milk, cows need healthy pastures to graze on.
How do farmers benefit from our research?
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Here is a short description of what we do to improve the benefit that farmers derive from our research. There is an example used of a course attended in order to broaden our knowledge.
Effluent, is it really waste?
Reading Time: 2 minutes
As to whether effluent is a waste or a benefit, depends entirely on how you, the farmer, use it.
Milk from pasture-fed cows is good for you!
Reading Time: 2 minutes
What the cow is fed has a great impact on the amount and quality of milk it produces. What does choosing milk produced from pasture-fed cows mean for you, the consumer, and for your health?
Feed your soil, and it will feed your plants
Reading Time: 2 minutes
“The soil is the only stomach that the plant has”. I had never thought of soil in this manner before, and found it to be an interesting perspective.
Watch the Biggs Family tell us why sustainability matters
Reading Time: < 1 minute
“As farmers, we are stewards of the land. It is our responsibility to ensure that as caretakers we treat it with respect and leave it in a better condition for future generations” – Bonnen Biggs, Suiderland Farm
Be a steward of water!
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Water stewardship is defined as being the use of freshwater that is “socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial, achieved through a stakeholder-inclusive process that involves site and catchment-based actions”.
Playing smart politics with your soil
Reading Time: 2 minutes
If farmers could challenge themselves and stop applying excessive nutrients in the form of fertiliser, especially N, and rather focus on building soil carbon, that would force the soil organisms to start working (mineralise organic matter) for their own nutrients.
Why diversify your pastures?
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Multi-species pastures have become a prominent topic over the last few years. Why does everyone make such a big deal about it?
A practical way to assess your soil
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Here is a practical guide based on the work by Graham Shepherd to assess the health of your soil visually. Use this guide in association with the sustainability indicators if you want to improve your soil health.