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The Great Phosphate Deception (Or Ignorance)

Every year kiwi farmers waste thousands of dollars on phosphate they don’t need. In my experience, some soils in New Zealand, like Taupo ash for example, have high phosphate availability. A dairy farmer I work with in Tokoroa currently has three times the optimum level of phosphate in his soil (Bray 2 test) and hasn’t applied any more for about six years. Plant tissue tests confirm phosphorus is still high in the pasture.In that six-year period the soil calcium and magnesium base saturation ...

A better way of doing things

Thirty years ago, a colleague said to me. “It doesn’t matter if you believe in man-made climate change or not; there is always a better way to do things.” For me, that was a turning point. There is absolutely a better way. What has changed over thirty years? Very little. The Government, Local Councils, Federated Farmers, Dairy NZ, fertiliser co-ops and others have not grasped the nettle, or if they have, it has been the non-stinging type. The banks were very anti-alternative/sustainab...

So you think nitrogen comes out of a bag?

Cells construct protein from nitrogen. Chlorophyll is created from protein and photosynthesis. Photosynthesis, the most important process on the planet, takes place in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll.  Nitrogen is critical to life itself, being the most abundant nutrient required for plant growth. It forms 16% of all plant proteins and is a vital component in chloroplasts - the factories that synthesize energy from sunlight. Nitrogen is 78% of the air we breathe. There are 74,000 t...

All sides of the triangle have to perform

Recently, Kiwi Fertiliser has added a crucial string to its bow, a biological stimulant and fertility enhancer called Terragen Great Land. Please check out the website, Terragen Biotech. It makes interesting reading with the product having been created and tested by the University of Queensland. Testing has included many properties in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Farming enterprises include dairy, maize, sugar cane, lucerne, bananas, vineyard...

Biology needs to be nurtured, not destroyed

The focus has recently been on increasing pasture growth and quality with minimal added nitrogen, without lessening production. This is nothing new; in 2008, a hilly dairy farm I was supervising, (250 ha of easy and 150ha of aerial,) averaged 10,867 kg/ha DM. In 2012 the average was 16,238, an increase of 49% in 5 years. Best flats went to 20,650. Hills were 9,200. Nitrogen input plummeted to 3 kg/ha.  We cut out superphosphate and potassium chloride, substituting Sechura RPR and potassium ...

Nitrogen research was a waste of money

About 8 years ago MAF, Fonterra, and the fertiliser co-ops started wasting $10m on nitrogen research. I don’t know how far they got, but if it needs mitigating, nothing has changed. This approach is attempting to preserve the status quo and as such is irresponsible. A quick look at urea history shows us why business as usual is important for those businesses. 1979, the first shipment of 16,000 t into NZ. 2016, 560,000 t were imported, and 260,000 tonnes were manufactured locally. That’s 820,...

Kiwi Fertiliser and the environment

Kiwi Fertiliser prides itself on delivering fertility as close as nature intended as practicable. Certain commonly used products have been found wanting, leading to serious soil degradation, pollution, and eutrophication problems. Farmers have been led to believe urea is essential for high production. We contend that is not true. Nitrogen can be sourced from the air by plants if the correct conditions are met. Urea manufacturers obtain nitrogen from the air, convert it to urea, and then sell it ...

Nitrogen complexities

To get free nitrogen from the air where there are 74,000 tonnes above every hectare, the soil must have correct calcium and magnesium; available phosphate and iron; cobalt and molybdenum. But it is more complicated than that. Besides other nutrients being involved, microbes rule the roost. Many farm practices are counterproductive when it comes to supporting soil biology.Bacteria and fungi produce organic acids. These acids react with insoluble carbohydrates, phosphates and silicates making them...

Brainwashed

Ministry for the Environment and statistics NZ recently released a damning report showing increasing nitrogen and phosphorus in a percentage of NZ rivers.Surprise surprise!The clean rivers plan, which is sweeping the country is to drastically reduce nitrogen applications on farm, based on historical data. For farmers hell bent on trying to mitigate too many changes in management in future will be looking at management now to alter that data.It doesnt take a rocket scientist to deduce that one su...

Change Needed in Fertiliser Use

WHAT do individuals, businesses, or governments do when they cometo the realisation that methods or regimes they have been followingfor 20, 30, or 40 years are wrong? The answer usually is bugger all.However, when change is necessary for the better and the weight of public opinion forces change there will always be some who are affected adversely.The larger the perceived harm from change, the greater the resistance. Self-preservation kicks in and the truth is given a hammering until it is barely...

Everything Is Broken

t on importing it and allowing it to be fed? Clearly, they are not interested in high-quality milk. This fact is also physically demonstrated as they do not pay incentives for quality. They do, however; choose quality milk to make high-quality products. Guess who produces that milk?Kiwi Fertiliser follows the Albrecht system of soil fertility as refined by Neal Kinsey. This is the system in place at the Whakapono farm of Backtrack Farms, while the other farm in the trial, Waiora is under the inf...

Forward Farming fixed my pond, and then the whole farm!

“Here’s the problem I was having. My pond was crusted over and I was losing holding capacity. Not only that, the solids were constantly blocking the irrigation jets, which was a major pain.”Brian had had these problems before and had paid contractors to come in and stir the pond and suck out the solids. He even had a digger brought in to excavate the crust. But the crust always came back.“Then I saw the Slurry Bugs advert, about good bacteria that liquefy the pond by eating the crust. So...

The Soil Solution: Soil Health Addresses Our Massive Problems

The UN has named 2015 International Year of Soils and we should surely embrace this initiative with open hearts and willing hands. It is an incredibly timely focus, in light of a series of serious challenges impacting our future and perhaps our very existence. Soil health directly affects plant, animal and human health. It also impacts topsoil erosion, water management and ocean pollution. Most importantly, it is now recognised that global warming is directly related to soil mismanagement. A glo...

Ending Global Warming

“You can’t be free when you depend on someone else for your food.” –Wendell BerryNews Flash: Man-made warming may have begun earlier than we thought. Gayathri Vaidyanathan, E&E reporter ClimateWire: Thursday, August 25, 2016Before gasoline-powered cars crowded roads, before even the first coal-fired power plant was built in the United States, humans had begun warming Earth’s climate.By 1831, the signals of man-made global warming could be seen in the Arctic and the tropical oceans....

Regaining Profitability

The incumbent agricultural and silvicultural practices are degenerating soils, and polluting water supplies. The model that treats symptoms instead of causes lines the pockets of corporations, companies and co-operative head offices at the expense of farmers’ and growers’ profits. Government agencies, regional councils, advisory services and the government itself are equally culpable. One study measured a mere 2% difference between Canadian farmers gross and net incomes.Most of us have been ...

Decrease Nitrogen and Increase Profit

The focus has recently been on increasing pasture growth and quality with minimal added nitrogen, without lessening production. This is nothing new; in 2008, a hilly dairy farm I was supervising, (250 ha of easy and 150ha of aerial,) averaged 10,867 kg/ha DM. In 2012 the average was 16,238, an increase of 49% in 5 years. Best flats went to 20,650. Hills were 9,200. Nitrogen input plummeted to 3 kg/ha. We cut out superphosphate and potassium chloride, substituting better options enabling the...

Profit Not Production: There's No Cure, But There Is A Better Way

om there, 50% of that sugar is exuded to the soil to feed the microbes. In return, the microbes make minerals available to the plants.Copper needs to be a minimum of 2 ppm in the soil, but 5 are better and 10-15 are excellent.Copper and sulphur influence flavour. Collectively, calcium, silicon, manganese, potassium, copper and boron are involved in plant strength. To stop pastures and crops from getting pests and diseases they need to be in the correct proportions.Zinc should be in the 7-20...

Soil Reports

Here at Kiwi Fertiliser we work exclusively with Kinsey Agricultural Services of Missouri USA with soil audits conducted by Perry Agricultural Laboratory, also of Missouri. Kinsey Agricultural Services (KAS) specialises in building and maintaining soil fertility for optimum quality and yields. The soils’ needs are determined by a specific set of tests that may differ from other labs, but are based on mimicking the plants ability to extract nutrients from the soil. Any soil test result can be c...

How the Albrecht/Kinsey System is Changing Agri For The Better

Kiwi Fertiliser is a company built on integrity and trust, and has stuck to its guns against the onslaught of the chemical NPK movement that continually tries to discredit any competition. Some farmers have asked, “Why do some academics criticise a system that works so well, and has improved our production and animal health?” They are referring to the Albrecht-Kinsey system of soil fertility. Some soil chemists are in competition for clients; some are plain ignorant of the facts. Some a...

Decrease carbon in the atmosphere by increasing soil carbon

“Almost half our emissions (49%) come from agriculture and most of our electricity is already from renewable sources. This means we have few cost-effective options for cutting emissions. New Zealand plans to meet its 2030 target by purchasing emission reductions overseas, forestry, and domestic emissions reductions.” – Ministry for Climate Change.What?? I have no confidence that the Ministry has the foggiest idea of what to do other than fiddle with symptoms and buy their way out of an eas...

Science or Scientists?

Some scientists and others believe their critics are anti-science. That makes them self-appointed spokespersons for the science community. It is the scientist’s ego and ignorance that is the problem, not the science.We have been and are being lied to by government, politicians, corporations, institutions, news media, marketers, doctors, and scientists. Misrepresentation seems to be the norm. Use of a true statement is often designed to confound their critics and the general public.One such sta...