What we did to improve the fertility of our sheep to 180%

 

Creating swales to spread water and slow down erosion

Our first summer on the farm - desolation!

 Feed the land, to feed your stock.

At AgFest in 2018, our very first year on the farm, we came across a product we'd never heard of - Nutrisoil. A worm farm product. Here's a video, from a recent presentation (2022) in Deloraine, Tasmania where world renowned soil microbiologist Walter Jehne gave fantastic information about how to create biological farming.

 

This one product has revolutionised our farm as well as our focus. Then we became aware of another product called Calcipril, which has been instrumental in tackling the very high acidity of our soil. These two products are made from natural resources. Calcipril is a calcium product ground to a very fine particle which is more easily absorbed by plant roots. Nutrisoil is not a fertiliser, but rather a catalyst produced from worm castings. It encourages plants to utilise the nutrients which are already in the soil and to communicate with the fungal and bacterial presence around their roots. It is early days yet, but the results have been quite spectacular, in our opinion. We've been mentored by Natural Resource Management and are part of an ongoing study through them. We've also had excellent support and advice from Nutrisoil, who are all about soil ecology.

Macrocarpa paddock summer 2018

 

 Macrocarpa paddock summer 2022 after the sheep have hammered it for 3 days!

 So what did we do exactly?

Our aim was to have lush, green paddocks all year round, without the need to irrigate. Sounds impossible, right? But we have started to make it happen. By choosing seeds which mature at different times of the year we were able to keep the ecological cycle of the soil active all year round, thus reducing the need to reseed. Deep rooted plants allow water to penetrate deeper and further into the soil, reducing water loss and encouraging plants to firmly establish themselves. We researched Australian and European pasture varieties, including some very traditional English varieties such as Timothy and Cocksfoot. Below is a list of the seed varieties that we have used thus far on our farm. Some worked, some didn't.

1. Tillage Radish
2. Excelltas Coloured Brome
3. Windtas perennial Rye
4. Kidman AR1 Rye
5. Impact 2 Diploid and Tetraploid Rye
6. Barberia Rye
7. Winter Ry corn
8. Howlong Cocksfoot
9. Megatas Cocksfoot
10. Upland’s Cocksfoot
11. Safin Cox foot
12. Punter Chicory
13. Kahu Timothy
14. Hercules Plantain
15. Quantum 2 Fescue
16. Sardi 7 Lucerne
17. Summer Active Fescue
18. LawsPhalaris
19. Holdfast Phalaris
20. Arrowtas Arrow Leaf Clover
21. Rubytas Clover
22. New Zealand White Clover
23. Campeda Sub Clover
24. Storm White Clover
25. Weka White Clover
26. Taipan Balansa Superstrike Clover
27. Bounty White Clover
28. Vista Clover
29. Denmark Sub Clover
30. Artas Sub Clover

31. Palestine Clover

 

*some of these came as single seed varieties which were mixed with others. Other varieties came in commercial mixes.

*We seeded at least 12 varieties in each paddock, making up different mixes for different areas, depending on soil.

 

The paddocks were improved initially with seaweed, fish emulsion and Nutrisoil. Now just using Nutrisoil as it is pretty much a one-shot product. Nutrisoil was used as a foliar spray at 5 L per hectare mixed with 100 L of water. This works out at $30 per hectare every six months. Applied in spring and after topping in autumn. Applied with a 200 L tank, 12 V pump and boomless nozzle on the back of a Polaris four-wheel-drive side by side vehicle. This vehicle has less impact on soil, less compaction, compared to using a tractor.

Calcipril was applied at 300 to 500 kg per hectare, using a small fertiliser spreader at approximately $200 to $300 dollars per hectare.

15 to 25 species of grasses and legumes were used in each paddock under restoration. Some grasses took two years to emerge, after the soil had started improving. We tried to use as many deep rooted grasses as possible, with different seasons’ growth activity, to keep green growth on the ground all year round.

We also planted hundreds of trees - as windbreaks, as bird habitat, as cover and to create a garden around the house. This has attracted so many birds! Which in turn eat the bugs. In the vegie patch I use no toxins at all, no pesticides or fungicides and no fertilisers, just Nutrisoil and Calcipril and the odd bit of snail pellets (the kind made of iron, not toxins).

The results speak for themselves

1.    There has been a big reduction in bracken, 'Buzzy' weeds, sorrel and other acid loving weeds in the treated areas.
2.    There was a noticeable difference in the rocky, steep areas that are usually difficult to treat, compared with untreated areas where there were more weeds and a lot more cricket, grasshopper and grub activity.
3.      Fungal attacks on grasses in the treated area has reduced or stopped completely.
4.      Grasses stayed green during the dry summer and suffered less frost damage issues in winter.
5.    There was a noticeable difference in water retention in the ground. This was especially important in areas where vehicles needed to be driven across, which would normally be too slippery or boggy for access.
6.      There has been a huge increase in worm and dung beetle activity in the soil.
7.      Sheep fertility and lamb survival has increased. Birth defects and issues have decreased. Lambing went from 120% to 180% in four years. Lamb mortality decreased from 17% in the first year down to 8% in the last year, which occurred mostly because some of the lambs were born in a sudden snowstorm. Despite this, only one ewe with triplets needed assistance, whereas in previous years, there were many ewes with prolapses and  birthing issues. 

 

our driveway January 2018 the day we arrived

 

                                                               our driveway 2022

      We now are able to see such a difference in our land. It holds moisture, it feeds our sheep, it retains its lushness year-round. It's not perfect, there are still weeds, but it is well on its way. The pH is slowly shifting towards neutral, which in turn means some of the grasses sown years ago are now emerging, as the conditions are more to their liking. We are constantly learning and have become ambassadors for the soil. Lots of people are looking to improve their soils and their diets through the no toxins-no dig method and we find ourselves sharing what information we have. That's why I started this blog.  It's a revolution I hope will grow.