Trace minerals were once genuinely considered as “minor” minerals because their measurable presence in the plant was so minute. However, these minerals are now recognised as spark plugs that trigger numerous plant processes and their absence can be as costly as the lack of any of the major minerals. We have conducted thousands of tissue tests from around the globe and trace mineral deficiencies are universal. A high analysis blend of all seven chelated trace minerals has a huge role to play in all growing enterprises. (more…)

Mauritius is a sugar cane-draped, island nation off the coast of Africa, suffering from a modern malaise. The 45,000 small producers who grow the fresh produce for the 1.4 million inhabitants of the island are using more acid/salt fertilisers each season and applying more farm chemicals each year, with less and less response. This mirrors the global unsustainability of conventional agriculture, where more chemicals are used every year but every year there is an actual increase in pest and disease pressure. (more…)

The New Zealand kiwifruit industry is in serious trouble as growers battle the rapid spread of Psa, a bacterial canker disease that has seriously impacted most of the kiwifruit growing regions in the world. 52% of the NZ industry has now been affected and all efforts to halt the virulent disease have proved unsuccessful at this point. Graeme Sait, CEO of leading biological company, Nutri­-Tech Solutions (NTS), recently returned from New Zealand where he has been consulting with growers and the key industry body, Zespri, to expand the resistance effort. (more…)

Colin Hamilton and his partner, Beverley, have embarked on a journey of discovery. They farm 3000 acres near Narromine, in the central west of NSW. They have cropped cereals, cotton and legumes on the farm for the past fifteen years using the standard range of farm chemicals and acid fertilisers. After attending seminars by some of the leaders in the burgeoning biological agriculture movement, Col decided to initiate changes on his farm. (more…)

Nutrition Farming® is more about insight than inputs. It is a knowledge-based approach where the aim is to reduce inputs through smarter farming and increased sustainability. This often involves synergies where certain combinations optimise outcomes and knowledge of these synergies can be the key to success with this approach. In this article I will highlight seven key combinations. (more…)

Potassium (K) is the mineral with the greatest influence upon crop quality parameters and, in this context, foliar-applied potassium during the business end of the season (from flowering onwards), can be particularly productive. Potassium is unique amongst major minerals in that it never becomes part of functional molecules involved in plant structure. Instead, it serves as a spark plug that triggers numerous biochemical and physiological processes related to plant growth, yield and quality. (more…)

Ten years ago, author/consultant, Graeme Sait, researched and developed the first Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture course and, along with a team of highly credentialed Agronomists, presented the information to a group of fifty farmers. Since then this four day learning opportunity, supported by a 360 page manual, has gone on to become the leading course of its type in the world. Thousands of growers and consultants have now been trained in four continents and the accolades have been many. The former head of the USDA organic division has referred to it as “the best course I have ever attended” and the CEO of Woolworths in South Africa has called it “essential training for all food producers on the planet”. Attendees regularly rank it at 10/10 on their post course evaluation forms and this unique educational event is invariably sold out at every sitting. (more…)

1) Lift Your Quality – Organics has a reputation for idealism, which can be good motivation but bad business. Consumers should get more than chemical-free when they buy organic. They should get forgotten flavours and extended shelf life to justify the premium, and this is all about nutrition. If you are deficient in zinc or boron, all of the compost in the world won’t correct that deficiency. You need soil and tissue tests and good advice to sponsor a quality-driven, precision nutrition approach that will bring the customer back for more. NTS are world leaders in soil and plant nutrition. (more…)

An article by Sonja Burger. Weeds have suffered from a bad reputation for centuries, and often undeservedly so. Yes, they can reduce crop yields and quality, harbour pests and diseases, taint milk, contaminate wool and poison livestock. But, they are often not given credit for colonizing bare soil and preventing erosion, for loosening up hard soil and transporting nutrients from the sub-soil.  Their role in scavenging and conserving nutrients such as nitrogen and sulfur, which might otherwise leach away, is often ignored. (more…)

In this article we will look at practical implementation of biological farming principles focusing upon the strategies that are proven to deliver greater yield and quality while reducing the need for chemical intervention. The following summary can serve as a box ticking audit of your progress along the biological path.  (more…)