Fertiliser Review No 25 – Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

November 2, 2010
Words: 298

Farmers Advised to be Careful

A plague of questionable new fertiliser products has appeared on the New Zealand market and farmers are warned to undertake due diligence. This comes from independent, Hamilton-based soil scientist, Dr Doug Edmeades, in his latest Fertiliser Review. The products include humates, soil bio-stimulants, ground serpentine and basalt rocks, and a range of products from the sea, including sea water!

“Fear-mongering is being used to sell these products” said Dr Edmeades. “The companies claim that the use of chemical fertiliser is destroying soil humus and soil life.” “There is no evidential basis for such extravagant claims” said Dr Edmeades, who is well known for his defiant stand on behalf of New Zealand farmers against pseudo-science and worthless products. .

“The fact is that our soils are teeming with a whole range of soil microbes. They always have and they always will. The old rule of thumb applies – the microbial live-weight below the soil is approximately equal to the live-weight above the soil.”

Dr Edmeades repeated the advice that Professor Walker offered: “Treat soils like babies – keep them well fed (fertiliser) and dry (good drainage) and the microbes will look after themselves”. Dr Edmeades said that “research clearly shows that as soil fertility increases, with the use of chemical fertilisers, the soil biomass also increases. This occurs because the soil microbes live on the pasture residues returned to the soil. The more pasture, the more residue, and the more microbes”.

As an example Dr Edmeades noted that “if you grow 10 tonnes pasture DM and utilize 80% then 2 tonnes of organic matter is returned to the soil. About 50% of this is sugar (carbohydrate) and that is the primary food source for soil microbes”.

Dr Edmeades urged farmers to seek professional advice before wasting money on these dubious products.

END

Dr D.C. Edmeades
Managing Director
agKnowledge Ltd
PO Box 9147 Hamilton
Phone 07 834 0316
doug.edmeades@agknowledge.co.nz