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.
Farmers are stewards of the environment
Reading Time: 3 minutes
The farmers who attended were provided with a fresh perspective and encouragement on how to approach environmental stewardship on their farms.
Environmental stewardship is an important pillar of agricultural sustainability
Reading Time: 2 minutes
One of the important take away points of the day was that this generation (producers, retailers, consumers) needs to understand and appreciate that they have in their hands the opportunity to ask questions, come up with solutions and create awareness across the world about why stewarding the environment is crucial.
Soil Biology,the engineers in the soil
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Microorganisms like fungi and bacteria use the carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients in organic matter as food in order to obtain energy to survive. Microscopic soil animals like protozoa, amoebae, nematodes, and mites feed on the organic matter, fungi, bacteria, and each other for the same purpose.
What lies beneath the surface…
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Have you ever wondered what is going on beneath your soil? Do a basic visual soil assessment and compare it to the sustainability indicators in order to predict when soil quality starts deteriorating.