DoloZest and Humus Building

Misconceptions can be sometimes be difficult to change particularly when they have originated from organisations or people who we regard as authorities.

The misconception that is of greatest concern at present is that pastoral farming is a net polluter and farmers will therefore need to purchase carbon credits at some point.

Eco-Logic Soil Improvement has a growing number of farmer clients that can show conclusively that their soils are sequestering carbon.  We don’t at this time have the actual figures; we’re waiting on a suitable test or tests, but sequestering carbon they are.

Most of the increase in soil carbon comes from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Plant roots are constantly growing and dieing providing soils with a steady carbon supply.

Dead grasses and dung also supply significant inputs of carbon.  At least as important as the quantity of carbon is humus.  Humus is the biologically active or living fraction of soil carbon.

Soils with greater biology have increased rates of total humus formation and growth.  Humus can be regarded as the glue that holds soil together.  It acts as a sponge storing moisture and nutrient releasing both to plants effectively and efficiently.

Soils therefore are not all equal, and nor is the management of and fertiliser inputs.

There is good data to show that pastures regularly fed with fertiliser nitrogen will grow less when the nitrogen content of the nutrient inputs is withheld.  Nitrogen is an essential growth element and when withheld from a system dependant on it initially growth will decline.

Replace fertiliser nitrogen with DoloZest and not only does growth not decline, our measures over five years clearly show an increase in pasture production on an annual basis without the application of solid fertiliser nitrogen.

Clover content of pastures where DoloZest is an integral part of the nutrient input programme is significantly greater and examination of clover nodules shows them to be healthy and fixing nitrogen.

It is however the end result that actually matters.  From data collected over almost 5 years, properties using Eco-Logic Soil Improvement products and programmes have steady increases in both total pasture production and total farm production.

With the marked increase in fertiliser nitrogen prices the cost effectiveness of programmes dependant on it will come under closer scrutiny.

Sufficient nitrogen fixed directly from the atmosphere and via clover can be achieved in the first year of the inclusion of DoloZest the biologically activated dolomite based calcium/magnesium product into a nutrient programme.

DoloZest also supplies the necessary magnesium to minimise magnesium related metabolic disorders in spring.  Applications to properties experiencing problems last spring saw a marked improvement in herd health within 3 weeks of application.