So perhaps YOU are one of the many livestock farmers who are locked into the seemingly inevitable decision every spring of paying your ‘dealer’ exorbitant wads of cash in exchange for a ‘fix’ that no longer delivers its high?
With the advent of inorganic fertilisers, land managers had a flexible, simple, relatively cost-effective tool for increasing the productivity of land to reduce livestock finishing times, add condition to breeding stock at critical times and to guarantee a bumper crop of silage or hay to secure your winter feed requirements. At first, the costs seem reasonable and the results tangible, but over time things don’t seem to be working as well.
A growing number of innovative farmers are starting to deepen their knowledge of the world below their feet in order to reduce their feed and fertiliser costs whilst increasing the resilience and carrying capacity of their land.
Here are a few facts that you probably won’t hear from your average farm rep;
• Natural soil fertility depends on a healthy underground army of micro-organisms to exchange sunlight for nutrients.
• These micro-organisms build soil organic matter which supports healthy plant growth.
• Healthy plants contain the full spectrum of nutrients in their most digestible form required by ruminants to maximise health.
• Healthy soil is critical for ruminant bacterial health which directly influences productivity.
• When livestock are consistently given a diet of mineral-rich native grasses, served up on clean pasture everyday, it can significantly reduce expenditures on medicines, supplements, dips and vaccines.
Inorganic fertilisers damage and kill soil microorganisms which over a period of time will dramatically reduce your soil’s natural fertility, resilience to droughts and floods and its ability to keep your livestock healthy.
The modern view of a farming will take each component of management and try to maximise productivity or profitability.
An example would be the simplistic view that a mineral block, bolus or feed additive can provide the missing nutrient highlighted on a test undertaken by your vet. But our most recent scientific findings of how animals and humans assimilate nutrients allows us to see that picture is far more sophisticated than this. If nutrients are not in a bio-available form, the gut microbiome of the ruminant has been negatively impacted by medicines or the additive nutrients are not in the correct balance, your high costing supplements could be splattering between the slats!
In the context of a simple soil analysis, you may be told that your soil needs more of certain minerals; but new research is showing us that it’s a complex underground army of organisms that keep the whole thing ‘productive.’ The fertilisers and mineral additives you are using – and paying hard earned cash for – could be directly reducing your lands ability to grow plants and support your livestock in the future.
This aspect of modern agriculture reminds me of the perfect drug dealer’s scenario; we have created an addiction that ensures continued and increasing reliance. There’s only one winner here, and it’s not you!
But there’s hope. Over 3 Million Ha of land is being managed under people who have trained in ‘Holistic Management’, this system has been developed to guide land managers through the process of repairing their land and building natural fertility; often using livestock as one of their most effective tools. Holistic management can help any farm, anywhere, increase productivity whilst reducing input costs. There are a growing number of forward-thinking farmers in the UK jumping on board.
This is a wonderful video of one US farmer’s journey of realising that ‘chemical farming’ methods were leading them on a path to nowhere and how they now have one of the most productive farms in the world. He outlines impressive hard economic facts too.
So if you are curious or perhaps sceptical about what holistic management could do for you, then you’re in luck. Here is an introductory webinar (online training session) where you can watch a presentation and ask questions about how holistic management could help you leave your farm in better health than when you took it on.
Caroline x
There are dozens of scientific studies and interesting articles HERE to dig into if you want references and research for these concepts.
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