Answer: Answer: As temperatures rise and rainfall becomes less predictable and weather events
generally become more unpredictable, then organic/biodynamic/biological production
systems are the only ones that can guarantee longer-term food availability. These
systems ‘farm’ the soil rather than ‘mine’ the soil, increase soil organic matter and hold
more soil moisture allowing crops to be grown and harvested in years of drought where
conventional farming systems cannot produce. Look at the 30 year research project into
conventional and organic farming systems from Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania, USA on
www.rodaleinstitute.org. Providing a healthy soil minimises disease, increases plant health
and increases antioxidant and vitamin content of the resultant food. Look at using compost,
mulch, compost teas, kelp and fish as soil and foliar applications. Look at Agpath P/L website
for assistance.

Answer: Answer: Soils are made up of different proportions of sand, silt and clay. Light soils that have
higher proportions of sand are more difficult to have hold organic matter and carbon and
nutrients, generally, and require much more input to turn them into productive sandy loam
types with nutritional value.
Loamy soils are easier to work and hold organic matter much more readily than the sands.
High clay content soils can have problems with water logging as can any soil that is misused
and compacted. Draining heavy soils may be necessary for them to be productive.
Most soils can be recovered in a reasonably short time frame. It is simply that some take
more effort than others.
Once the organic matter builds up and earthworms move air and water deeper into the
soil profile, then the diverse populations of soil microbes will actively increase nutritional
opportunities for plant species.

Answer: Answer: Response time for recovery of soil biology depends largely on the population of soil
microbes before the adverse conditions impacted on the soil. A soil that been misused, such
as use of chemical salts as fertiliser, herbicides, over cultivation or over grazing in the case
of pastures, compaction through trafficking or too many animals, will leave the depleted of
diverse soil microbes and recovery will be slow if ever under that system.
In contrast, a soil that has been treated biologically will have a diverse soil microbial
population, good grass cover with diverse species, few if any weedy species, good water
holding capacity because of the higher organic matter in and on the soil and little or no
compaction. The large and diverse soil microbial population will come back very quickly after
an adverse event because it is returning from a high base.

Answer: Answer: The region around the root zone of healthy plants known as the rhizosphere is the
most microbial active, rich and diverse area in the soil. There is much literature on this topic
and cannot be condensed to a few lines. Plant exudates are concentrated in this region and
signalling between plant roots and microbes actively translocate nutrients from soil microbes
to the roots and, in the case of mycorrhizal fungi, from roots to the fungi. Soil biology is a
term using to describe all the organisms in a good soil. In the chart below you will see the
many levels and interactions that occur naturally in a fully functioning soil food web. It is
getting these all functioning providing healthy plants with the nutrients they need that is our
philosophy in biological farming. Minimising or removing commercial chemicals from the
soil management programme is a good start. Adding amendments to good aerobic thermal
compost is a better way of adding chemicals to the soil. Learn to use a simple microscope
and use it as often as possible looking at soils, composts, compost teas, etc. Take electronic
pictures and email to someone like me, Mary, at agpath@dcsi.net.au and I will give you
identification. You can look for books to buy or use the websites through Google or any
other search engine. There are great pictures, videos, etc on- line for you to search on your
own. Another service Agpath offers is the closed part of the website where people who have
participated in workshop s can join and submit their pictures but also have access to all the
other pictures people have sent in and I have written an explanation of the content.

Answer: Answer: This question has been answered in other questions.

Answer: Answer: This question has been answered in other questions.

Answer: Answer: Any salts adding in large amounts will damage soil microbes to a greater or lesser
extent. Metals such as copper will affect all fungi and phosphates have a negative effect on
mycorrhizal fungi in particular. Mycorrhizal fungi have a role in the soil of scavenging for
phosphates and supplying them directly in plant available form to plant roots in exchange for
carbohydrates which fungi cannot manufacture because they are non- photosynthetic. Any
disruption to this symbiotic relationship causes loss of mycorrhizal fungi leading to loss of
soil structure and loss of water holding capacity. Look at literature in the journal ‘Acre’, J. of
Soil Microbiology, and others, for peer reviewed papers. If you add 10% of the recommended
rates of NPK to good compost and then distribute the amended compost or compost tea to
your soil, you will improve the soil without damaging the soil microbes.

Answer: Answer: Healthy perennial pasture has a diverse population of all the necessary microbes
for healthy plant production. Perennial systems have well developed mycorrhizal fungi
populations that maintain good soil structure, assist in water holding and carbon
sequestration. Cultivation destroys the fungal component of soil regardless of the
composition of sand, silt or clay. Minimal disturbance of he soil maintains the diverse soil
microbes.
Mixed plant species in the pasture, rotational grazing leaving no less than 10cms of grass
cover, maintaining good ground cover to minimise weedy species, addition of good compost
or compost tea, and feeding with fish and seaweeds will maximise the soil microbial
populations and result in healthy pasture and grazing stock.