Many of the messages received from overseas emphasise the desire for the food chain to be cleaned up. Urban populations are struggling to find healthy and wholesome food.

In the northern hemisphere, threats to individuals and collective health include lifestyle, lack of sun – north of the 33^rd parallel no UVB rays penetrate for most of the time – pesticides, toxins, factory farms, decomposing waste, over-farming, severe mineral depletion, Genetically Modified food, pollution on all levels and more. All of these factors increase inflammation of feeling among consumers.

The opportunity to supply chemical-free and superior food to the northern hemisphere would be welcomed by those consumers. But we continue to ignore the signals and we line up in the queue dispensing pesticides, toxins, Palm Kernel Extract and GMO technology and much more.

Dairy goats

The NZ Dairy Goat Co-op has the highest ranking of all infant formulas in the world, and they banned PKE in 2008, so why does Fonterra insist on importing it and allowing it to be fed? Clearly they are not interested in high quality milk. This fact is also physically demonstrated as they do not pay incentives for quality. They do, however, choose quality milk to make high quality products. Guess who produces that milk?

Kiwi Fertiliser follows the Albrecht system of soil fertility as refined by Neal Kinsey. This is the system in place at the Whakapono farm of Backtrack Farms, while the other farm in the trial, Waiora, is under the influence of Ballance.

So far the Albrecht system has come out on top. That is not news to those that understand how it works, but the sceptics and knockers outnumber the believers even although they have no scientific evidence to back them up. What is more, under such a system, animal health improves, quality of produce improves and the use of toxic chemicals decreases.

Take shortcuts

Before Backtrack Farms, the DairyNZ hierarchy refused to consider funding for ‘biological’ versus chemical fertiliser trials.

Federated Farmers are no better; being led by an avid supporter of GMOs. We have not maximised the resources we have at our disposal by a country mile, but some scientists and politicians are hell bent on taking shortcuts before they are proven safe.

In fact, experiments have proven the opposite is true. Even banks have been reluctant or have refused to lend, for say, magnesium. They have insisted on phosphate when the farms in question have twice the phosphate they need but were starved for magnesium, or calcium for that matter.

Taking into account the increased production so far at Whakapono, it amounts to $500/ha. The average dairy farm is 147 hectares, so the annual difference is $73,000. But, this is just the beginning. What if the ultimate increase is three times more than it is now? That’s our expectation.

The Albrecht system takes time to express itself, but a big part of that is patching up deficiencies caused by inadequate soil fertility advice that has been rife for decades.

The present system is broken. It is past the time to fix it. The cooperatives are in a unique position to change their stance, but they will be rooted in their bad habits of the past. They will keep on manufacturing polluting materials such as superphosphate and urea.

Overseer will keep on with its ‘one size fits all’ approach. Do the Overseer scientists really believe Reactive Phosphate Rock is washed into waterways the same as SSP – or Single Superphosphate – is? It discharges phosphorus at a rate suitable for plant uptake, which is far more than can be said for SSP. Meanwhile, at least some regional councils are quietly encouraging the use of RPR. Visit the website at: www.siddc.org.nz/research/soil-nutrition-management-project/