Constant cover is your soil insurance
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Keeping the soil covered is important for soil conservation. The abundance and diversity of food for soil organisms is what determines a soil’s natural productivity.
Author Archive for: Portia Phohlo
Entries by Portia Phohlo
Graham Shepherd: Managing nitrogen and carbon to maximise farm performance
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Graham’s keynote presentation, Managing N and C to maximise farm performance, truly resonated with the audience. Many of the farmers in attendance are already in transition towards sustainable farming while others are not quite there yet.
The fate of nitrogen: nitrate-N vs ammonium-N
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Nitrogen is the growth element. Plants need it, no doubt about that. In the first half of a plant’s growth cycle, it takes in about 80% of the total nitrogen it needs for the entire cycle.
Does your soil have a balanced diet?
Reading Time: 3 minutes
The ultimate goal is a healthy soil, with a fully functioning soil food web. One of the important steps in achieving this is ensuring the correct diet for the microbes which make up the full food web.
Plants, the root of your profit
Reading Time: 4 minutes
The unique and constant interaction between plant roots, bacteria and fungi creates a fantastic symbiosis. Farmers are able to facilitate or limit this interaction through the practices they implement.
Video – What is the importance of the soil food web?
Reading Time: < 1 minute
The soil food web represents the diversity of life that lives in the soil. Earthworm counts can be used as an indicator of the diversity of life that is present in the soil.
Video – A simple way to test for carbon in the soil
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Carbon is one of the indicators that can be used to test for soil health. Soils with higher soil carbon are usually indicative of healthy soil. Those with low carbon indicate the opposite. Watch this simple demonstration showing how to test for carbon in soil.
Know your soil
Reading Time: 3 minutes
The soil is more than just a big blob of brown stuff. It has organic matter, mineral particles as well as a variety of microorganisms. The quantity of each of these determines the health of that soil.
The “too much of a good thing” effect of nitrogen
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Nitrogen is a nutrient that is crucial for the optimal growth of plants. Its role in plant health may very well be unparalleled, but what happens when it becomes excessive in the soil? Is it “the more the better”, or rather a case of “too much of a good thing”?
Farming sector: The backbone of society
Reading Time: 4 minutes
There is no time like the present when it comes to educating the public about agriculture and the role it plays in our lives. It cannot be overstated how crucial it is for more people to understand agriculture and not be influenced by common misconceptions.