The Experts

Superphosphate – phosphate with benefits

5 August 2020

New Zealand agriculture relies heavily on pasture legumes to increase and maintain the soil nitrogen (N) pool. It is the size and rate of turnover of this soil N pool that is often the dominant determinant in how much pasture a farm will be able to grow annually. Optimising the growth and function of the legume to be able to fix N, requires a good supply of phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S), as well as other major and trace elements.

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The Experts

Elementary essentials #2: Phosphorus (P)

5 August 2020

The non-metallic element phosphorus (P) is the 15th element in the periodic table and is one of the 19 elements essential for life in all higher plants and animals on planet Earth. Phosphorus makes up about 1% of the body weight of mammals and is the second most abundant mineral in the body.

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Advice

Getting more strategic with your N at Wi Pere

5 August 2020

When you’re managing 6,000 effective hectares and 60,000 stock units over a wide range of hill and flat country, tools to help you farm smarter not harder are a welcome addition to the business. A team of 16 runs the three farms that make up the Wi Pere Trust’s agribusiness, which consists of two breeding farms and one finishing farm. The man who has led that team for 17 years is Tim Rhodes.

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Advice

The holy grail of N testing

5 August 2020

It is often said that the search for the perfect soil nitrogen test is somewhat like searching for the Holy Grail! However, we might be getting closer with the development of a new soil test known as the PMN test (Potential Mineralisable Nitrogen), which estimates the ability of a soil to supply nitrogen (N) for crop growth.

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