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.
Posts
Our soil is under threat
Reading Time: 5 minutes
To a large extent, these threats are caused by conventional agriculture. This is what makes the regenerative approach to soil management so important.
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.
Are herbicides really helping you?
Reading Time: 6 minutes
There has been a lot of research conducted about the impact of applying herbicides. The problem is that there is a full spectrum of findings showing positive, negative and negligible effects on soil biology. This can be very confusing.
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.
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.
Farmers’ Day: Sustainability – Economics & Soil Power
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Join us for an exciting farmers’ day where Trace & Save will be hosting New Zealand soil health expert Graham Shepherd.
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.