Soil fungi connections

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Soil fungi increase security, awareness, and knowledge for those connected to them. Any soil management action that results in the breakage of these connections, such as tillage and fungicides, destroys the entire nerve system of the soil thus isolating plants and soil organisms from each other.

Healthy soils

Minimise soil disturbance and build soil health.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Physical soil disturbances are a well-documented and well-understood concept; however, we underestimate the disturbances that result from chemical and biological processes.

Paying back the carbon debt

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Rebecca Burgess, founder of the Fibershed project says that, “our soils have a carbon debt; the atmosphere is gushing with carbon. The carbon over our heads is literally in the wrong place” and this couldn’t be truer.

What is nature telling you?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Often farmers treat the farm as a whole and that is completely wrong. Fields within a few meters from each other can have completely different characteristics, especially with regards to soil biology.

Without oxygen in the soil, nothing works

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Oxygen is one of the overlooked but most important requirements for microbial and root development. In fact, I’d even posit that it is more important than food, water, and warmth.

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.

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.