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 influence of Ballance. So far the Albrecht system has come out on top.
That is not news to those that understand how it works, but the sceptics and knockers outnumber the believers even although they have no scientific evidence to back them up. They do have scientists that will back them up; in fact J. Rowarth is now chief scientist at NZ’s Environmental Protection Agency. She does not believe in a system that ultimately uses less fertiliser, produces more, and pollutes less. What a disgrace. What is more, animal health improves, the quality of products improves, and the use of toxic chemicals decreases.
Before Backtrack Farms, DairyNZ hierarchy refused to consider funding for “biological” versus chemical fertiliser trials. To rub salt into our severely wounded environment, Luxton gets acknowledged for his contribution to NZ agriculture. What a disgrace. Federated farmers are no better; being led by an avid supporter of GMO’s.
We haven’t maximised the resources we have at our disposal by a country mile, but some scientists and politicians are hell-bent on taking shortcuts before they are proven safe. In fact, experiments have proven the opposite is true. Even banks have been reluctant or have refused to lend for say, magnesium. They have insisted on phosphate when the farms in question have twice the phosphate they need, but were starved for magnesium, or calcium for that matter.
Taking into account the increased production (so far) at Whakapono, it amounts to $500/ha. The average dairy farm is 147 ha, so the annual difference is $73,000. But, this is just the beginning. What if the ultimate increase is three times more than it is now? That’s our expectation.
The Albrecht system takes time to express itself. A big part of that is patching up deficiencies caused by inadequate soil fertility advice that has been rife for decades.
The present system is broken and corrupted. It is past the time to fix it. The cooperatives are in a unique position to change their stance, but they will be rooted in their bad habits of the past. They will keep on manufacturing polluting materials such as superphosphate and urea. Overseer will keep on with its one size fits all approach. Do the Overseer scientists really believe that RPR is washed into waterways the same as SSP is? It discharges phosphorus at a rate suitable for plant uptake which is far more than can be said for SSP.
Meanwhile, at least some regional councils are quietly encouraging the use of RPR.
For more on the Backtrack Farms trial, visit the website at
http://www.siddc.org.nz/research/soil-nutrition-management-project/
