Happy New Year and welcome to the first YLAD Living Soils newsletter of 2021; I hope you had a relaxing break with family and friends but now it is the time to turn our attention to planning for 2021 to achieve our goals.
2020 was a nice change from 3 years of drought with most customers experiencing a 1 in 50 season with bumper crops and abundant pastures. All commodities were on a high with livestock retaining great prices. Continued tight supply as herd re-building takes place will continue to provide a level of underlying support for prices. The start of 2021 has been a lift in lamb prices which is expected to continue with demand remaining steady.
Although everything appears on a ‘high’, including growth it is still the right time to do the budget and ascertain where things can be improved. It may be soil health, pasture diversity, crop rotations, animal health requirements and infrastructure.
PLANNING – As the old saying goes: ‘if you fail to plan then you plan to fail…”
Some of the ideas that could form part of your planning are:
Stubble Management – using fungal inoculums to break down the lignin into humus, do not let them just volatilise up into the atmosphere, put that valuable carbon into the ground.
2021 Cropping Plan – A good time to take some early soil tests, plan rotations and order fertiliser such as Germinate Plus or Legume Plus and seed dressings. As Joel Williams at our Seminar last March informed us that it is a healthy rhizosphere that dumps the most carbon into the soil and produces a healthier more resilient and nutritious plant.
If a summer spray is necessary to control summer weeds, then consider the use of OCC-N to reduce the amount of chemical necessary and reduce the impact on soil microbes.
Pasture Management – a great time also to take some soil tests and plan what minerals require to be added to the soil with Humus Compost, for either renovating or sowing new pastures. Sodium Molybdate is one that I get on my high horse about because it is essential for fixing free atmospheric nitrogen. If needing to sow pastures or multi-species crops, then order seed early to secure for future sowing.
Education – Always include some good reading on soil microbes, soil structure or human health each day. We are not just about using ‘bigger bandaids’ to fix the problems of agriculture but finding solutions.
I look forward to helping you with any planning you may require so you go into 2021 prepared for whatever the uncertain climate and world stage throws at us.
Regards
Rhonda