Question 1

Move towards organic certification?

Accepted Answer

Organic produce is growing in demand and value as consumers look towards healthier food options. If your farm is looking to go through an organic certification process new soil management prinicipals will need to be considered. Testing soils and guidance in creating management protocols should be considered to become certified. If you are on the path to certification contact SoilScopes for insight on your soils.

Question 2

Identify a soil borne pathogen and create a remediation plan?

Accepted Answer

Some plant pathogens and detrimental soil organisms can cause extreme damage to crops if not dealt with. A number of these can be indentified through a soil microbiological assessment. Once indentified a targeted plan can be developed to address the pest or pathogen to minimise damage. If you are concerned of a pest or pathogen issue consider having a sample assessed to determine which organism is responsible for the damage.

Question 3

Increase land fertility and boost crop health?

Accepted Answer

With good roots come good fruits. These roots need to be in fertile, healthy soils which can support crop health. Unhealthy soils will grow plants that suffer disease and pest pressure, how does nature handle this? By having a well balanced soil microbiome where the pests and disease causing organisms are naturally surpressed by beneficial microbes. We want to use a system just like that to grow plants which are resistant just like in nature, this is Biomimicry. Contact us to find out more.

Question 4

Reduce land erosion and surface run-off?

Accepted Answer

Losing top soils to heavy rains is a devasting problem for land fertility. The cause of this issue is poor water infiltration due to compacted lands. By changing the principals of soil management noticable improvements in water infiltration can reduce the impact of erosion. Protecting our top soil is vital to long term soil fertility. Find out how to use biological methods to control erosion.

Question 5

Cut your fertilization, pesticide and herbicide costs? "

Accepted Answer

Nutrient cycling is the ability for microbes to break down minerals, organic matter and other soil components into plant available nutrients. Creating a soil enivronment where the roots have access to all the necessary nutrients at any given time. Nutrient cycling allows the farmer to apply less and less fertilizer. Cutting this expense means real SAVINGS on input expenses for growing your crop.

Question 6

Understand the quality of your soils and find the most suitable crop?

Accepted Answer

Not all crops like the same type of soil microbiome. Before deciding what to plant in a new area consider testing your soils to find which crop will grow well in that soil. By calculating you Fungi to Bacteria (F:B) ratio you can determine what plants will thrive in that soil. This allows you to make an informed decision about what seeds to sow.

Question 7

Remediate contamination sites?

Accepted Answer

If a certain toxin, oil or other contaminating chemical has been spilt into your land or water system there are major risks associated to land health. Fixing this issue is a complex one but through biological remedation along with activated carbon cation capture there are methods to begin to tackle a contamination site. This is a slow process but one of the few ways to manage contamination in our soil systems. Contact the team for specifics if you are facing issues.

Question 8

Create operating procedures to manage soil health?

Accepted Answer

Investing in your soils health means looking after that investment to watch it reach maxium potential. New practises must be adopted to protect the life within your soil and those practises which were harmful can no longer continue. By leaving our soils as undisturbed as possible, the microbial community has enough time to develop into functional living soil. We want to speed that process up as much as possible through these procedures.

Question 9

Design composting systems to manage organic waste?

Accepted Answer

Using the waste streams on site to create high value farming inputs is an example of the closed loop practises which allow greater profitability. Managing organic waste can be labour intensive but by creating management plans and using the correct composting system it can become effective plant fertilizer. By making the needed inputs for your plants you cut out massive expenses and return the organic waste back to the land. Systems designed for your needs.

Question 10

Use biocontrol agents for an organic system?

Accepted Answer

Organic pest management relies on different tools to ensure pests are kept in control. Spraying Glyphosate or similar products has no place in regenerative farming but there are other tools are your available. Bio-control agents are active bactrium or fungi which are specficial adapted to dealing with a targeted pest or disease. This allows us to clear the problem organism out and be sure the beneficials are unaffected. Speak to our team about product recommendation and application.

Find out what other people are asking about organic farming, soil health or our soil analysis.

FAQs

If you didn't find the FAQ you were looking for, email us at welsey@soilscopes.co.za