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Sustainable Methods For Dealing With Drought

By Philip A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

The first point to make is that it is easier to prepare for drought before you are in one than to try to rescue yourself from one your already experiencing.  Regardless of what stage your in the principles which will be addressed here are the same.

Three processes are involved: Capturing the rain that falls on your farm, holding a good portion of it in the topsoil for immediate use, and allowing the rest to go into the subsoil where it can come back up to the topsoil when needed.

Capturing rain requires good soil structure.  Good soil structure is usually damaged by simplistic N-P-K fertilization.  Growers need to learn that there are six major nutrients; calcium, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, and sulfur.  Calcium is the king of nutrients and must be dealt with outside of the pH concept.  A good cation exchange test [CEC] will help you begin to balance the 6 majors to influence structure. At the same time as you are using nutrients to attempt to correct structure, you can also use sub-soiling and soil conditioners to get rain to go through the topsoil and into the subsoil.

Advanced methods of holding moisture where it falls include contour plowing, strip cropping, terraces etc.  Cover crops always hold more rainfall than bare ground.  For advanced total concept water retention, look into permaculture (created in Australia where water is extremely precious.)

Holding moisture in the topsoil requires the presence of biologically active carbon.  The main source of this is organic matter that has been turned into humus by the digestion of microbes.  In order to get the soil biology to come back, a grower has to learn how to reduce chemical inputs that impact the microbes and provide new food sources for them.  Changing to post emergence herbicides is a start.  Direct application of carbohydrates such as molasses or sugar provides high energy feed for the microbes to use when they are taking up nitrogen for retention against leaching and release when needed by the plant.  Green manure crops should be disked into the surface to provide a more complete food supply for the microbes.  Treating them with small amounts of N and sugar will assure their immediate breakdown for use by the current crop.  The presence of good humus will combine with the structure from balanced minerals to give the soil that great smelling, moisture and nutrient holding aggregate structure that we all would love to have.

Moisture can also be held by providing dust mulch covers which act as insulators against evaporation, but still allow the all important oxygen to penetrate for the microbes to breath.  Very light tillage can be used to create the dust mulch cover without turning up moist soil.

Let’s assume we have managed to get rain to go into our subsoil by breaking up hardpans and creating better topsoil.  The sun on the soil surface will create a draw that will bring the moisture toward the surface.  The more pathways for the moisture to travel the more that will come up to the root zone.  Typical pathways include wormholes, openings and cracks created by sub-soiling, spaces created by soil conditioners, deep root paths, etc.

To assure that new plant roots can reach downward as far as possible, build an implement with a deep thin blade that can create a channel under each row.  Late in the season, go out with a shovel and prove to yourself how far roots can go down that channel compared to roots that don’t find the path of least resistance.

The author has been observing farms for thirty years in the US and many foreign countries.  Whenever there is a drought in a given area, the farms that have practiced the principles of sustainable agriculture always come out better.  They may have a reduced yield, but in relation to their neighbors, they get a better yield.  One of the reasons for this, besides the moisture management we have mentioned above, is that their crops and soil attract dew to a much greater extent than their neighbors.  This has to do with a very complex relationship involving the electrical/magnetic nature of plants and soil.

It takes 2-3 years to restore structure and biological activity.  Get started now!

February 28, 2014
How To Deal With Soybean Rust And Aphids
By Philip A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

The Chickens Have Come Home To Roost

This is an article about options. There will be short introduction to the problem and the causes behind the problem, but the emphasis will be on solutions. Solutions require management and inputs. Inputs have generic and brand names and companies that deal with them. Therefore, I am breaking with precedent from my own writings, with permission from Acres USA, and referencing such information either within this article or in a referral list at the end.

Soybean rust may or may not reach your area, soybean aphids are predicted to be out in force based on last falls “counts”.

The main problem allowing the impact of soybean rust (SR) is lack of available silica in the soil and subsequent adequate silica in the plant. (This applies to all fungal/rust/scab conditions.) This lack of silica is caused by over use of soluble nitrogen fertilizers, subsequent loss of organic matter and loss of boron. Recent research has confirmed that boron leaching is much faster than previously published. Boron activates the silica which activates/moves the calcium, etc. Since calcium is involved with 4-5 protective mechanisms in each plant, there isn’t much defensiveness left. Herbicides also contribute to the problem by killing off beneficial soil fungi and mycorrhizea (symbiotic root fungi) that can make the silica soluble.

The lack of silica prevents the formation of strong cell wall and connective tissue and protective cuticle on the outside of the plant. Research on many different crops and fungal types has shown that increasing the silica content of a plant reduces or eliminates the diseases. Most recently, Jose Garcia of Brazil has protected his organic soybeans against SR by directly introducing soluble silicates into his crop system by foliar feeding. (More on this later.)

Another factor inviting in SR is the natural senescence of soybeans after they bloom. Without generous supplies of nutrients, enzymes and hormones, minerals from the lower leafs will be translocated to the reproductive parts [pods and beans]. Fungi love these lower leafs where warmth, moisture and dead cells exist. Scout there first.

The main problem causing the attraction of soybean aphid (SA) is lack of available phosphorous and potassium in the plant (accompanied by sulfur) which does not allow for formation and transportation of sugars and the production of long chain amino acids. Shorter/incomplete amino acids attract insects to the available food supply (nitrates or poor quality amino acid or protein). Brix is also a partial component of the insect situation. This problem can also be traced back to lack of biological activity in the soil, caused by the chemical approach to farming.

Another valid way of looking at both SA and SR is the concept of plant sap pH. Bruce Tainio’s work shows that if the pH of your plant sap is below 6.4, fungus/rust will find a home on your crop and if the pH is above 6.4 the insects will be attracted. Attraction or severity of attack increases as you move further from the 6.4 in either direction. The pH is determined by the composite frequency of the nutrients involved, so this method is just an energy confirmation of the mineral approach.

The way to “fix” both SA and SR problems is to use sustainable methods of agriculture. Sustainable encompasses all the paradigms from Organic to Quantum Ag. You can use any or all the paradigms according to your beliefs, but the “proof” of your success is always in the “taste of the pudding”. One of the most obvious proofs is the visible confirmation of larger than normal size leafs with shiny, waxy coatings.

Generalities: Stop using those inputs [gradually may be better, but cold turkey can work sometimes if you have fairly good, fertile soil.] that caused both problems. Just because you don’t use anything to fertilize your soybeans, doesn’t mean that the negative stuff you used on the corn ground last year hasn’t carried over. Soil test and replace minerals that are missing, apply bio-activators if needed and start monitoring sap pH. Have a few tissue analysis samples done each year to see where you are. The nutrient ratios in sap required for good health and resistance are “known” and can be corrected to move toward a sap pH of 6.4. Many of you will be shocked to find out how far from 6.4 your sap is.

SPECIFICS
But let’s assume that it is too late to do any long term corrections this year. So the next approach is to try to immediately increase the amount of silica in your soil and plant for SR protection and make phosphorous, potassium and sulfur available for SA. We will start with silicates. Soluble silicates are difficult to work with. They can only be in solution with mono-valence ions such as sodium and potassium. Although they were given emergency approval in Brazil, they are not approved by NOP in the US. To the best of my knowledge, it may take a year of EPA processes prior to NOP consideration as soluble silicates are definitely manufactured products requiring energy inputs. This situation could change at any time.
If all else fails, you may need a fungicide. To be effective, both chemical fungicides and organic ones for SR must be applied before you get hit, or they aren’t very effective. Sometimes they require a second application.
Next, we will assume the same scenario for SA. You can only make short term corrections. It is my opinion that SA will be a bigger threat to most of you than SR. Failure to fertilize, activate and monitor will invite attack of SA

Silica may help, but using the same in-row and foliar materials mentioned above to increase available nutrients may be the only way to increase Brix and move your sap pH toward 6.4. Foliar feeding in addition to row support is probably the best approach. Sound devices such as the Veges® Sound Machine have also been known to prevent or stop insect attacks.

If all else fails, you will need an insecticide. I am not familiar with the use of standard chemical insecticides or all the organic alternatives such as Neem Oil or Pyrethrum. The main problem with the organic insecticides is that some may not be too helpful to predators. Therefore, recognizing that you may have your choices for the organic product that have proven effective for you, I recommend a product to my clients called Crop Guard.

Crop Guard is a mixture of garlic and yucca. The garlic portion offers some repellency, but the kill mode is by the yucca clogging the feeding tubes. It is effective against all sucking chewing insects. A spreader sticker is usually recommended to keep the material on the plant as long as possible. Nu-film 17, a spreader-sticker from Miller Chemical* has traditionally been used with Crop Guard and was certified organic as it is derived from pine tar. Please check with your certifier as I have heard that some ‘Catch 22” may disqualify it from its previous approval.

In both “rescue” cases, bio-fungicides and bio-pesticides, the use of Nu-Film 17*, an OMRI listed product, enhances the control factor by sticking the active ingredients to the leaf surface, even with subsequent rains. It also contains compounds extracted from trees, turpenes, which have their own “kill factor”

The options above are certainly not inclusive of all known responses, methods and materials. Please do not interpret my failure to mention or not mention any product or company as meaning that they may or may not offer benefit. Please consult the resources listed below. Good Luck and Good Growing, Dr. Phil

DEALING WITH ASIAN SOYBEAN RUST NATURALLY

By: Jose Luiz Moreira Garcia, M.Sc.  Edited by: Philp A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

Brazil has the largest population of Japanese and Japanese descendants outside Japan.

Maybe that was the reason for me to practice Japanese Martial Arts for quite a number of years and specially Aikidô. From an early age I got well exposed to the Japanese culture

living among Japanese farmers in Brazil and practicing  JiuJitsu  and Aikido.

But what does Aikidô have to do with Agriculture and specially with Eco-Agriculture ?

The founder of Aikidô, Morihei Ueshiba, also known as ” O”Sensei” or Great Teacher,

believed that Martial Arts and Agriculture are one and the same and his students had to endure long hours of agricultural training from very early in the morning till noon  if they wanted to practice Aikidô in the afternoon classes. O’Sensei Ueshiba was himself a farmer

for quite sometime in Hokkaido, located in northern  Japan.

O’Sensei used to say that the way of the Samurai was to take care of the population in the same way that the way of the farmer would be to take care of his plants and animals. Both would have to be driven by the same spirit of protection and care towards their loved beings. Many times he would talk about Aikido and Agriculture as the ” The way of Love” since love is the strongest of all forces in the Universe. Several of his disciples, specially the ones that did not have a farmer’s background, had a great deal of difficulty to grasp this concept.

O’Sensei had reached enlightenment after a Japanese military official had challenged him to combat with real swords (katana) in which he has done nothing but avoided  being hit by the opponent’s weapon . The official has given up after finding out that it was virtually impossible to harm O’Sensei, who was said to be able to guess all the opponent’s moves before hand.   Completely exhausted he went to a garden located in the back of the training hall (Dôjo) to rest and in his own words “felt a golden light engulfing his whole body and suddenly could understand the birds as well as all other life forms”. He then described how this experience allowed him to became “One with the Universe”. Clairvoyance was one of his many abilities. He was considered a living treasure in Japan and had demonstrated his abilities to the Emperor in many occasions, an honor reserved for a very few individuals.

In Japan, the term “Sensei” describes the “teacher” or “instructor” in the many oriental arts.

But in reality, “Sensei’s” real meaning is “born before”, meaning  that if one has been born before he/she has a better chance to know any subject because it has already being exposed to a particular situation and therefore can teach others how to deal with that particular situation.

During the 2004  season most the Brazilian Soybean  Farmers were hit unexpectedly by  Asian Soybean Rust (ASR). Most of them have experienced losses to some extent.

I myself have lost nearly 50% of my crop in the 130 acres I have planted. Some lucky guys

just got away without being hit by pure chance alone. Hot and humid summers seem to favor the spread of the disease that have caused losses up to 80% in some cases in our country.

This year Organic and Eco farmers have tried everything on earth that was non toxic, while conventional farmers have relied on expensive fungicides either approved for soybeans or not. Some of the natural treatments have worked and some have not.

American farmers are in the same situation that we were last season and therefore can benefit from our experience. In a sense, we can become your “Sensei” for the simple reason we have gone through this situation one year before.  Learning from and using our experience could be very beneficial and could prevent great economic losses.

Since we knew beforehand that a fungal attacks is not a symptom of fungicide deficiency

(without being clairvoyant of course ), as Dr Arden Andersen has pointed out on many occasions, it made the situation much easier to face..

Some of the treatments are still to be fully tested or have not been tested enough to see some positive or negative results. For instance, Compost Tea (CT) which would have been the first choice of a true Eco Farmer, has the drawback of having to be professionally made with a good Compost with plenty of active life. In a country with very little understanding of what a good compost is supposed to be and without a Soil Food Web Lab branch available, making such a tea is certainly a tough task. Besides it, there are very little Compost Tea machines that would make decent CT for areas of 2,000 to 10,000 acres and the only type available in the US market that I know cost around US$ 50,000.00.

I am a CT enthusiast myself and make my own CT machines to cover smaller areas but found a hard time to convince big organic farming operations to use this wonderful tool. This concept is not well known in Brazil as it is in the US maybe because we don’t have any Dr. Elaine Ingham down here.

Some organic agriculture proponents may argue that big organic operations might not truly organic in a sense and I agree, but again, I don’t make the rules.

In my opinion, CT would do very little to control ASR due to the very unique characteristic of this disease. As you probably know, ASR attacks the plant when it is already programmed to die, i.e. after flowering. When flowering takes place a change in hormones tells the plant that nutrients in the leaves are no longer needed in the leaves and they start to move into the grains.

Plants that are affected  by ASR have mostly the same number of grains (seeds) that non affected plants have, but the problem is that they just don’t fill out (size). A plant affected by ASR will have a smaller seed and this seed will still be viable. In other words Nature has taken care of the perpetuation aspect of the species, but economically speaking, it is disastrous.  Imagine a soybean seed with 50% of its actual size and weight. That would represent a 50% loss, just as I had in my own field.  In other words, it is a hard task to stop the fall of something that is already going downhill.

CT can and will protect a growing and living plant if properly made, but CT will have a hard time to do the same in a plant that is already genetically programmed to die. CT works wonders in a living plant that is actively producing leaf exudates, but that may not be the case of a senescent soybean leaf.

I am not saying that CT will not be good to be used before the flowering stage.  Don’t take me wrong. What I am saying is that after flowering, it will have little to no effect on ASR control.  Without CT, what else could be done ?

I had to envisage a way to make the plant cuticle stronger and more resistant and the first nutrient that came to my mind was Silicon Si, commonly called Silica. I used Neutral Potassium Silicate in this case.

By  Neal Kinsey’s suggestion at an Acres USA Conference I also tried Copper and some Boron as he believes that both minerals plays a key role in rust control as a whole regardless its etiology.  (Editor’s Note: Boron moves silica which then moves calcium. Copper is a proven anti-fungal element.)

Some folks here have also included Sulphur (the micronized 91 to 99% sulphur ) with excellent results. Some swear by their Soluble Humates efficacy, but it looks like the Silicon from Neutral Potassium Silicate (or Neutral Sodium Silicate) has played the most part in properly protecting the plant. As you know the nutrient Silicon has the ability to create a tougher plant skin and has given good protection to the plant against ASR pathogen.  (Editor’s Note: Sulfur is anti-fungal and the very low leaf surface pH created may harm the fungal organisms.  Both sodium and potassium will move the surface pH to a higher point, which can prevent growth and penetration of fungal organisms)

From the experience we had in this 2005 season, it looks like ASR has a greater difficulty to infect a plant that is well nurtured in terms of Silicon due to the physical barrier and possibly due to the high surface pH. The positive results have been so outstanding that I believe that this non-toxic control technique will eventually be used by conventional soybean growers due to its low cost and easiness of application.  Rudolph Steiner homeopathic remedies & techniques that increase the silica content of plants can also be used to increase the protective barrier whether applied through Field Broadcasters or direct spray application.

So what is the best approach?  As always, having adequate mineralization, especially boron and copper along with general bio-activation is a good start.  Even though soils have a lot of silica, it may not be available.  Applying Steiner homeopathic remedies to increase the silica in the plant may be the only “organic way”in the US.  Because the certifying boards in Brazil are heavily influenced by Steiner principles, they have allowed the use of sodium or potassium silicate on organic production. They took into account the desperate need and the lack of an organically approved fungicide.  Dr. Wheeler of CSI is currently checking the status of silicates in the US.  He also has the protocols I used to actually apply the silicates.  He has informed me that there is an organically approved fungicide available in the US, so the direct application of silicates, if not specifically organic by nature, may not be approved.

I have heard reports from the US that some growers also believe that Neem Oil does have a protective effect against ASR. Neem Oil has been tested and approved by the USDA for the control of some fungal diseases in roses. Can Neem oil also be used to help control ASR ?

Unfortunately, our former experience here in Brazil does not allow me to answer this question.  Only next 2005 USA season can answer this question but here is a word on caution about Neem oil and any other oil preparations used in agriculture: Every oil above 2% can be phytotoxic and that includes Neem Oil. This phytotoxicity is even increased with the use of Sulphur so please don’t even think about using Neem Oil and Sulphur in the same tank for spraying. Oil phytotoxicity is a function of ambient temperature, UV radiation, wind speed, oil concentration and sulphur concentration.  In case you decide to try Neem Oil against ASR try to find a reliable supplier that can guarantee you its origin and Azadirachtin concentration that should be above 1,000 ppm. India is still the best source of Neem Oil.

It really helps knowing your opponent’s next move before hand when one is not clairvoyant.

<strong>Jose Luiz Moreira Garcia</strong> is a Certified Organic Grower who farms 1,400 acres both organically and biologically in Southern Brazil and holds a Master of Science degree in

Horticulture from Michigan State University. He also do some consultant work in South America for small, medium and large organic operations and is actively engaged in Biological Farming teaching over there. He can be reached at <a href=”mailto:gingerjo@terra.com.br”>gingerjo@terra.com.br</a>

REFERENCED PRODUCTS AND COMPANIES:

GREENSAND: Available in smaller quantities from Fertrell at 717-367-1566 in PA and Peaceful Valley in CA at 1-888-784-1722. CSI sells in bulk semi loads only. 1-800-260-7933

TAINIO TECHNOLOGIES: CSI is a distributor – 800-260-7933.

SP-1: Agri Energy of IL. Contact them for your nearest dealer at 815-872-1190.

HUGH LOVEL: CSI is an authorized dist. and installer of broadcasters, and we use the GW Agriculture field sprays in our installations.

VEGES SOUND MACHINES are distributed exclusively by CSI 1-800-260-7933.

GW AGRICULTURE call CSI 800-260-7933 or 972-736-2900.

AGRI-GRO call CSI 800-260-7933.

BALLAD™ is manufactured by AgraQuest, but will be warehoused by EnviroQuest of MO at 1-888-624-2420.  Please direct all request for info and purchasing to them.

Crop Guard or Crop Guard EC is manufactured by BioDynamic Earth of ID. Call 208-841-0308.

Soluble Silicates maybe available from Agri Energy Resources, 815-872-1190.
May 28, 2013
Thinking of Going “Organic”? Think Scientifically & Think Bottom Line

By Philip A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

As a sustainable/organic agronomist, one of the most disheartening types of calls I receive on a regular basis are the ones that proceed as follows. “Hi, this farmer Joe Smith, I’m having problems with weeds/insects/low yield etc. on my soybeans.  Of course I should expect lower yields, since I went organic a few years ago.”  My first reaction is simply to ask, “Why would you knowingly make a transition to a new way of doing things (a change of paradigms) without preparing for that change in advance?” “Did you have soil tests done to see what minerals might be short?” “Were you aware that the mineral balances and amounts become very critical when nature has to operate on her own without large amounts of high energy inputs?”  Besides, soybeans are considered nutrient scavengers.  Why would anyone automatically think that organic soybeans should mean lower yield?

This problem arises when the assumption of organic is that you don’t do much of anything and just let nature take its course. There is also the philosophical approach that frowns on any “pushing” of the plant by outside fertilizer application or foliar feeding of organic nutrients.  Not “pushing” may work in rich soils or when organic market prices are way above non-organic.  Recently, commodity prices for organic crops like beans; corn and grain have dropped dramatically compared to the last 20-30 years.  Yield or output has now become important.  What many organic proponents also fail to realize is that the faster growing, higher yielding crops may actually be the most nutritious if grown with biological/sustainable or organic practices and materials.

Making the decision to go “organic” should be a series of known steps that take the major surprises out of the outcomes you can expect in each year of your transition.  You can also evaluate your potential for success before you even start.  Let’s consider some of the factors that you can evaluate.

Where is my farm located?  This factor leads to discussions of soil types, rainfall, markets etc.  If you are on deep Iowa top soil, organic corn is a good possibility, while southern blow sand doesn’t look good at all, even if you have water control.  Supplying enough nitrogen in a low organic matter soil could be quite costly on a low value commodity.  Location becomes less of a problem for graziers if rainfall is adequate or irrigation is available.  The heat is a problem, but not an insurmountable one.  The main problem is producing enough TDN (total digestible nutrients) or to state it another way, having a high RFV (relative feed value) to economically produce more meat for a lesser amount of grass consumed.  Raising the RFV is mainly concerned with increasing the relative amounts of cellulose and hemi-cellulose in relation to lignin. The forage must also be able to transmit as much of the mineral requirement as possible from the soil to the animal. Mineral supplements out of a bag cost a lot more that minerals bought by the bulk ton as components of soil amendments such as: rock phosphates, humates, paramagnetic rock, kiln dust, green sand, nutrient clays, etc.

The above objectives can only be met by learning about and working with the soils you currently have.  This article is the beginning of a series on soils, minerals, humus, energy use and manipulation, foliar or crown feeding and moisture retention. Let’s begin at the beginning.

In the beginning were minerals.  These were formed under the scientific laws of nature under great pressure and heat in previous stars.  They became incorporated in the earth at its creation and form what we call soil.  Most of our soils come from volcanic ash or weathered rocks that contain the earth’s minerals.  Minerals are the basis of all life on earth.  Vitamins, enzymes, and hormones have no use or function in the absence of minerals.  Only about 5 % of a good forage plant is actually made up of the minerals, (the rest is carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that come from air and water.) but that 5 % is very critical in its composition and relationships.  Contrary to what is usually taught in standard agronomy, let’s assume there are six major minerals as we combine the usual N-P-K with the three secondary of Ca-Mg-S.  Memorizing these six can be very beneficial to your forages/livestock/pocket-book because neglecting any of them will produce less than the quantity and quality your soil would like to be capable of producing.

The first mineral to consider is calcium (Ca).  It is the prime mineral nutrient!  It determines the total volume of your crop when adequate water, nitrogen and temperature are available.  It is interesting to note the article in the Feb. 2000 issue of SGF on page 26.  It reports on research that shows calcium is an important element in the tenderness of beef.  It is also the most important element in a plant for energy production and transfer, communication, disease and insect detection and defense, nutrition, strength, etc.  Of course it does the same things in your livestock and the humans that consume it.  I’m sure you are aware of the osteoporosis (calcium deficiency) problem in the US.  One might ask why we have that problem in a relatively well-fed nation.

The reasons are very complex, but an easy one to understand is the one concerning lime policies/teachings that have been predominate in agriculture since the early 50’s or the “dawn of the chemical age”.  A conscious decision was made to make the addition of lime (the major and least expensive source of calcium) dependent on the concept of pH rather than on the actual amounts of calcium present.  Since pH is affected by other elements/nutrients as well as bacterial systems, the chance for serious calcium shortages in soils developed.  The problem was and is compounded by the fact that the usual chemical inputs affect the availability of calcium uptake, regardless of the physical amount present.  Nature also allows for the masking of shortages by making visual calcium deficiencies hard to detect in a plant while wrecking internal havoc in terms of nutrition and disease immunity.

The solution to the problem is to apply calcium according to cation exchange tests (CEC) rather than pH.  Almost all modern soil test labs report there findings in terms of CEC, so that just leave the task of interpretation to you or your advisor.  Since many crop advisors in conventional agriculture are not sufficiently informed or trained concerning calcium, you are urged to become knowledgeable yourself.  The two major sources of calcium are high calcium lime and gypsum.  Hi calcium lime or CaCO₃(defined as less that 10 % magnesium carbonate content) is the best source for pHs below 7.  Gypsum or CaSO₄is the best source of calcium for those with pH’s seven or higher.  Gypsum also provides highly available sulfate sulfur, which helps make better protein and thereby reduces insect attack.

The remaining five major minerals could be argued over as far as importance, but they are all interdependent.  I will choose phosphorous (P) as the second most important because it helps to produce and transport energy (carbohydrates) in the plant.  After all, the main reason we have plants is that they are factories for producing the food (energy) needed by animals and humans in nature’s scheme of things.  Phosphorous is the catalyst that lets the plant combine water and carbon dioxide in the presence of sunlight into simple sugars.  It is those simple sugars that go on to become/produce/provide energy for all the other parts of the plant.  A grower can measure the productivity of his sugar factory right in the field with a simple inexpensive refractometer, but that is a story for another time.

Magnesium (Mg) is the center of each chlorophyll molecule (it is actually an antenna to capture sunlight and raise its energy for use by the plant) and therefore is an essential part of the sugar making process described above.  However, magnesium is a two edged sword.  Too much magnesium (as can be supplied by the use of ag lime, which is also called dolomite lime) can purge N from a system and/or harden up clay soils.  If your soil gets sticky in the spring and hard like brick in the summer, you have excess magnesium.

Potassium (K) is the enabler in the system.  It plays a regulatory roll in enzyme activity without a lot being incorporated into the plant.  Potassium is the key element in determining the caliber or size around of your stalk or fruit.  Small apples are a shortage of potassium.  Potassium also has its downside.  To much available potassium over phosphorous will increase broadleaf weed pressure.  Also, the use of the standard source of K, potassium chloride or 0-0-60, almost 50 % of which is a chorine (bleach) causes serious problems with microorganisms.  This precludes its use in any transition to organic agriculture, which is highly dependent on biological activity.  Luckily, nature is forgiving and soils can be recovered from having been “bleached”.

Since we covered sulfur above, that leaves us with the non-mineral element nitrogen (N).  Nitrogen is the electrolyte in the system.  It acts like the battery acid in a battery to carry charged particles called ions such as Ca++, and SO4–.  Not enough N and the system doesn’t flow; too much N and the soil’s natural process shut down so that we become dependent on the local supplier. Also, too much N draws insects and diseases as well as weakening stocks.  Sustainable and organic growers try to get their N from legumes, manure and urine, compost, as well as fixation by azobacter from the air and soil humus.

From a scientific and business standpoint then, it looks like soil testing and mineral replacement, balancing or activation is the logical way to start a transition toward sustainable/biological/organic agriculture.

April 28, 2013
Science & Philosophy: Should Organic Growers Be Forced To Choose?

By Philip A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

The first issue to get out of the way is that the author is not anti-organic agriculture in its broadest definition.  I raised my children on a certified organic farm, have sold semi after semi of organic fertilizer commodities and blends and continue to work with organic growers on several continents.  The purpose of this article is to help all growers understand how plants function on a biophysical and biochemical basis so they can optimize the time, money and effort they put into their farming endeavors.  In doing so, I will have to question some of the decisions made by various groups concerning what is to be certified as organically acceptable inputs.

Over the years, I developed a prejudice against reductionist science because of its use to justify the use of standard N-P-K fertilization methods and the subsequent use of toxic rescue chemistry.  The typical extension research plots and experiments I read or observed were so poorly done that I began to reject them out of hand.  Then I would obtain a great textbook on soils, plant physiology, etc. and my faith in the scientific process would be restored.  Reductionist science is a necessity.  It has allowed us to learn how living things function down to the individual atoms, molecules and ions (charged particles).

DEMONIZING CHLORINE: Over the years, my lectures have always included cautions against the use of KCl, muriate of potash/ 0-0-60.  The cautions are to be taken very seriously as the typical application rates of 200-400 lbs./acre apply approximately 100-200 lbs. of the chlorine ion Cl -, which to great an amount for the soil biological systems to tolerate.  However, in this tirade against chlorine, we may have lost site of the fact that chlorine is a very essential nutrient to life.  At one time, a manufacturer produced a baby formula without any chlorine content.  When this was provide as the only source of fluid and nutrition, several infants died.  There are other elements or compounds such as sodium and salt (sodium chloride) that have also been demonized because the use of, or presence of, gross amounts of them on soils causes serious problems.

BASIC PLANT COMMUNICTIONS: Just as manmade systems of copper wire are used to conduct electricity (electrons) and information, plants also use electrons and protons to communicate and transfer energy within their cells and throughout the entire structure or body.  The primary simple ions of flow are: Na⁺, K⁺, Cl^–, Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, and Zn⁺⁺.  One can easily see that two out of the three single valence (plus and minus charges) flow ions are the components of salt, sodium chloride/NaCl.  Iron, copper, and manganese are associated with allowing flow across membranes rather than the flow itself.  More complicated ions containing phosphorous, such as ATP, and whole molecules such as amino acids and sterols are also used to transfer energy/information.  All flow is, of course, associated with water and its ionic components of H⁺ and OH^–.

Calcium is also in a class by itself, since it causes multiple reactions when it crosses a cell membrane in plant, animal and human. Without extra calcium that is not tied up in more complex molecules, the plant can’t communicate to defend itself against insects and diseases.  These calcium ions are usually stored in the spaces between cells rather than in the cell itself.  They can transfer into the cell and then back out again, ready to send the next signal.

Two other non-metallic elements that are under-appreciated are sulfur and selenium.  Sulfur compounds are extremely important in the information/energy transfer by way of oxidation-reduction reactions.  Oxidation –reduction reactions are the basic way molecules of compounds are put together and taken apart.  Selenium becomes a part of certain amino acids in plants, but more importantly, it provides the ability for animals and humans who consume the plants to have active, healthy immune systems. Recent research of garlic for humans has verified that process.

EVALUATING PRODUCTS: Based on the above information, I would like to discuss several products that may or may not be approved for organic certification.  When I first started using liquid calcium in the early 80’s, I was amazed at its effectiveness in making far more calcium available in the soil than was contained in the actual product.  Back then, most liquid products were made from dry or liquid calcium nitrate mixed with a chelating agent such at glucoheptonate.  Those types of liquid calcium will never be approved, since calcium nitrate is not approved.  Calcium nitrate cannot be approved, because it is made from nitric acid and limestone.  The nitric acid requires a high energy input manufacturing process which violates the tenets of the organic paradigm.  Now, lets say we start with a basic mined product like calcium chloride instead of limestone (calcium carbonate). Since calcium chloride is one of the few soluble calcium salts in nature, it is an ideal material to make a non-energy requiring solution in water.  Then you can add another natural material that is organically approved such as lignon sulfonate; citric, malic, or ascorbic acid; or a long chain sugar that will bind with the calcium to form a biologically available product for soil and plant use.

April 28, 2013
Comments on Potassium Silicate

By Philip A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

First, a discussion of the issues involved. Since potassium silicate is composed of natural elements, the issue of being a synthetic, carbon based, toxic material similar to a pesticide is a non-issue. The next issue is that of being “manufactured”, thereby consuming “energy” in its creation. This is a philosophical issue and not a scientific/factual one, so therefore I can only give my opinion as to its validity. My opinion is that it is a nice “goal/aspiration”, but the acceptance of that premise leads to the non-use of useful/valuable and yes, sometimes essential materials. This wouldn’t be the case if every organic grower around the globe had the same virgin, high organic matter, mineral rich, balanced, biologically active, non-contaminated soil, pristine water and perfect weather. It also wouldn’t be a problem if all organic production resulted in nutrient dense, brix at the top of the currently used scale, disease preventing food when consumed as part of a balance diet accompanied by pure air and water.

Neither of the above situations exists to even a moderate degree. In fact, they would be found in very rare occasions. That means that growers struggle under most conditions to create a soil and produce a crop that can defend itself against polluted air, polluted water, insect, nematode and disease attack. When they do succeed in not having to use any rescue materials of any kind, much of the production is still lower in brix (reduced flavor, health benefits, shelf life), than the known achievable results using a combination of methods that are biological and sustainable, but may include materials that are not on the NOP approved list. Regretfully, many foods grown using conventional agriculture, including the use of rescue chemistry have higher nutritional status, but end up with a higher level of toxins, negating the better nutrition. The situation is improving do to market forces, but a large percentage of organic growers, especially smaller ones, do not soil test on a regular basis or at all and do not remineralize of bio-activate either. When these soils are tested, the bio-availability of the major nutrients is very low and the common essential trace minerals may be at or below the detectable levels.

One does not have to resort to NPK fertilizers to get those nutrients along with the calcium, magnesium and sulfur. There are natural deposits and sources to cover NPK for the soil. Broad spectrum trace mineral deposits are also available for achieving that goal. Bacterial products have been available for years and now composts and teas are becoming more common. However, the major source of potassium for organic use is K2SO4 [0-0-50.] This is now very high priced in the marketplace, and in my opinion, priced way beyond production costs plus a reasonable profit. Manures or composts are a much better source, but of limited availability in many areas. The only low cost, organic liquid K approved for foliar feeding is a weak solution of 0-0-50. The price goes way up as soon as you make organically approved chelated liquid K’s

Old soils have been heavily depleted of Silica Si. Not too many growers can afford to haul in new unfarmed sources of sand or sandy loam top soils. Very heavy soils [high CEC’s] can be uneconomical to bring up to proper percentages of K from 0-0-50. A great deal of research shows excellent response to both foliar K and Si. A major portion of the BioDynamic approach is based on the importance of spraying Si as the prime atmospheric energy system. Much of our current problems such as production peaks, susceptibility to diseases and insects due to weakened immune systems, lodging, etc. good be greatly aided by having a soluble source of silica. Fruit, berry and vegetable growers would find it especially useful. Having it combined with potassium almost doubles the benefit as K runs most enzymatic plant systems.

Therefore, I would hope that potassium silicate could be approved under the NOP standards. I know it would add a great deal to the ultimate goal of producing high yields of nutrient dense food, with profit to the grower, and health and nutrition to the consumer, whether livestock or human.

April 28, 2013
Never Mind Your P’s &K’s, Mind Your S’s: S – Se – Si

By Philip A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

Most conventional farmers concern themselves with N-P-K but don’t realize the phosphate (P) on their farm is not very available to the growing plant and, except in obvious shortages, potassium (K) is usually more than adequate. Almost all of the soil tests that come through our lab from around the world are very short of Boron and other common trace minerals.  But, for those of you who have hopefully done some biological activation and CEC balancing, including the addition of  Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese and Zinc particularly Cobalt and Molybdenum where needed, let’s try to progress in our ability to maximize soil and plant functioning by learning about the S’s.

For discussion of the three elements, Sulfur, Selenium, and Silicon, let’s take a unique approach.  We will examine each according to: its ancient history, i.e. what form was it is in pre-life times on earth and how did it come to be a part of plants/crops; what is its current form and purpose in plants/animals or humans; and how did Rudolph Steiner, the father of Biodynamics view them. Steiner was described as a mystic or clairvoyant, and literally saw things from a deeper, multi layered, physical and spiritual perspective, rather than a purely physical one, as you and I perceive matter.  In fact, throughout his childhood, teenage years and into young adulthood, he was unable to perceive of the physical alone as you and I would perceive it and always saw/experienced other layers of matter when looking at anything.  It will be interesting to see how his explanations of the 1920’s are confirmed by the science of the 1990’s and right up to today.

This approach is taken so that I may learn more about the Anthroposophical basis for Biodynamics and how it works.  Since my approach to agriculture is progressing in the direction of quantum biodynamics or energy manipulation, I need to be able to express the concepts in writing and in speech.  You are welcome to come along for the ride or ignore the parts about Steiner if you are not ready to expand your paradigm walls that far.  There is really nothing that mysterious about it.  Steiner used methods of capturing energy patterns (frequencies) coming from outside the earth that seem rather unusual at the time and still appear that way today.  Capturing and dispersing the energies required a great deal of time and energy (perseverance). However, today, we can record the frequencies of well made preps as geometric patterns using the Malcolm Rae technology and then achieve the desired results by broadcasting the frequencies correctly to fields and crops. A large number of hectares can now be covered with minimal labor, time and cost. (Readers are referred to Hugh Lovel’s book, A Biodynamic Farm, published by Acres USA.)

SULFUR [S]: Hydrogen sulfide gas [that rotten egg smelly stuff from high school chemistry] was the form of sulfur in the atmosphere of prehistoric times.  It also was attracted to metals like Iron in its solid or molten form. These forms were able to pass through the early living membranes and react with carbon in the earliest types of living things.  This established sulfur’s future use in protein formation of higher organisms.  As time progressed, much of the sulfur was deposited as pure elemental sulfur as found in various parts of the world.  However, much of the worlds sulfur now occurs in the form usable by plants, sulfate sulfur or SO₄⁼such as in gypsum and potassium sulfate.  This conversion took place under the activity of thiosulfate bacteria, which used the newly formed oxygen atmosphere to oxidize the elemental sulfur. What seems as a strange twist of nature, this sulfate form of sulfur can not cross membranes easily and does not react directly with carbon.

In today’s crops, the sulfur acts as a major source of oxidation-reduction reactions, which means sulfur is at the center of a lot of energy producing reactions like the core of nuclear reactor.  Remember, growth and functioning of plants is all about energy, not about fertilizer.  Besides its energy reactions, it and iron are a major part of amino acid and protein production.  Sulfur is a physical part of the amino acids; cystine, cysteine, methionine.  It is also a part of the vitamins biotin, thiamine and co-enzyme A.  In addition to its function in other enzymes, it is involved in the physical structure as a part of lignin.

When a plant is short of sulfur, it can show chlorosis of lower leaves.  A more subtle, but very yield reducing symptom is the accumulation of sugar, starches and nitrates in the plant.  I have seen apple trees with a brix of 22 in the leaves at 9:00 AM and knew that it had not translocated yesterday’s production of sugar into the roots.

Soil test levels are supposed to be a minimum of 25 ppm or 50 lbs. of elemental S.  I consider that too low in most situations, but especially those involving forage crops.  When our factories in the US were spewing sulfur compounds, shortages weren’t a problem in many downwind croplands.  When nylon industry derived ammonium sulfate hit the market in Michigan in the mid 70’s, there was a hew and cry from Michigan State Univ.  about how Mich. soils didn’t need any sulfur.  Of course, when the product was applied, the benefits were obvious.  I have been recommending ammonium sulfate ever since, usually at 100-200 lbs./A in the fall each year on most all field and horticulture crops.  It checks out well radionically on most soils.  Some of the benefits of sulfur include reducing soil magnesium levels, increased water penetration, lowering of soil pH to increase nutrient availability, major improvement of forage quality, and increased heat tolerance of crops.

For those who are not allowed to use ammonium sulfate because its byproduct of manufacturing nature, other forms of sulfur are available that qualify as organic.  (Note that in Au., most of your ammonium sulfate is from the steel industry and it may have more contaminants than Nylon derived material)   Gypsum [calcium sulfate] is good for above pH 7 soils, but isn’t good for lower pH ranges unless accompanied by high calcium lime.  Elemental sulfur qualifies, but requires valuable soil oxygen and time to become available.  Sulfate of potash [0-0-50] is available in Australia, but it is usually more expensive than muriate of potash, and many local farm stores don’t stock it.  Laingebeinite or Sul-Po-Mag is a natural mineral and a source of sulfate sulfur.  However, the magnesium content may make it undesirable on many Au. soils.

CSI finds many soils with a high CEC content of magnesium, but low availability.  Using a few [5-40] lbs. of Epsom salts [magnesium sulfate] will usually act as an activator.  The small amount of magnesium added is not going to be a structure problem in high magnesium soils, but the active sulfur and magnesium may be just enough to stimulate other processes.  You can also foliar feed Epsom salts to correct plant constipation of nitrates or sugars.  Nitrate constipation is expressed by excessive early blossom or fruit drop.  The magnesium will counteract the nitrates and the sulfate sulfur will relieve the constipation, as it is a symptom of low sulfur.

During the original agricultural lectures by Dr. Steiner, he placed sulfur on a par with the other components of protein; carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.  He mentioned Langebeinite, (Sol-Po-Mag), as a source of sulfur.  From an anthroposophical viewpoint, he perceived sulfur as moving the etheric [a less dense physical form] body throughout the dense physical body of the plant that we perceive.  If a plant is short of sulfur, its etheric body form may not fill out the space of the physical form.  This leads to an imbalance of forces as well as an inability to gather/use the cosmic forces that regulate all plant life.  The result is less than optimum plant health with resulting disease, insect, etc. and a less than nutritious feed for animals and humans.

Steiner’s “remedy” for sulfur needs was to put yarrow flowers into a stag bladder and hang it in the summer sun and then bury it in the winter earth to capture the appropriate energies.  What he was trying to accomplish from a plant physiology standpoint, was to have the sulfur be able to carry/bring the other nutrients involved in protein to all parts of the plant.  A remedy made by Pfeiffer in the US in later years contained over 900 million acitinomycetes and bacillus type bacteria that are essential for N fixation.  The original ingredients contained only 300 aerobic bacteria per gram.  Steiner was also trying to capture the formative [making the unique shape of the plant species] forces associated with the planet Venus.  He used the stag bladder to take advantage of the stag’s ability to gather energy through its very sensitive antlers/antennas.  This is called remedy or preparation 502.

SELENIUM [Se]: Selenium began its history mainly in the form of hydrogen seleninide gas like sulfur.  Because it was a better transfer agent for electrons than sulfur, it was incorporated into the first living systems more easily that sulfur.  In fact, it is the only higher molecular weight, non-metal to be associated with an amino acid.  As oxygen became available in the atmosphere, aerobic organisms incorporated it as SeO₂ or SeO₄⁼.  Just as with sulfur, it does not readily cross membranes or react directly with carbon.

What selenium has become, in animals and humans, is a remover of organic peroxides, very active compounds that are formed naturally in the body.  These peroxides can become corrosive to the body and need to be controlled.  The immune system usually suffers when selenium is not present in adequate amounts.  Lack of Se in humans results in Kesham Disease and Kashin’s Beck disease, neither of which is very common.  However in livestock, deficiencies are more common.  In the late 50’s, White Muscle Disease [Nutritional Muscular Deficiency] was identified as a selenium deficiency.  The popular name came from the presence of calcium deposits in the muscle tissue.

To correct the selenium deficiencies, vitamin E was found to be synergistic with Se, so the popular Bo-Se/Mu-Se injectible with E and Se came on the market for livestock use.  If an animal is on pasture, the additional E is probably not needed.  Selenium feed and water supplements are also available.  The logical way would be to supplement would be to add selenium to soil to provide bio-active Se from feedstuffs.  However, there is great fear of excess Se in some parts of the US, which can be a problem.  Blind Staggers of cattle or chronic alkali disease was identified in the 1930’s as an excess of selenium.

A college level plant physiology textbook of 1983 makes no reference to selenium as a plant nutrient.  Steiner’s original lectures make no reference either.  Yet there is a lot of data from NZ, Au. and the US showing that supplementation of Se can increase milk and protein production, reduced retained placentas, increase sheep growth and wool production, and solve a lot of reproductive and immune system problems.

Some western parts of the US do have toxic levels of selenium in soils that can be expressed in forages.  Most of the East, South and Mid-West US, as well as Au. and NZ, are deficient.  There are few processed fertilizers that contain Se in the market place. Containers of common selenium salts are usually marked with toxicity labels, so handling/mixing can be a problem. Graziers should be aware of Se levels in all forages, including weeds and herbs, that their livestock have access to.  Blood levels should also be monitored for maximum health and production.

The author is unaware of any good mineral deposit in Australia containing significant selenium and other essential micro or macronutrients that would be suitable for agronomic application.  In the current marketplace, garlic, an accumulator of selenium, appears to offer a reasonable source.  Garlic is processed into juice that makes verifiable claims of increasing the immunity of plants and thereby repulsing harmful insects.  It is the sulfur and selenium compounds that produce this effect.  For livestock, the juice could be introduced into a water supply or placed on feedstuffs in a very diluted fashion.  However, carry through to milk could be a problem.  The better way would be to use the garlic juice as part of a nutritional foliar spray.  Garlic juice is highly systemic and will translocate itself and accompanying materials throughout the plant, regardless of type of materials or type of plant.  The garlic odor dissipates rapidly [to humans] and has no beneficial or detrimental effects.

SILICON (Si): Although classed as a non-mineral, Silicon is very similar in size and charge to its mineral neighbors in the periodic table of elements like sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al) and calcium (Ca).  As a result, it is found in the physical structures of most soils.  These compounds can be string like, plane or plate like and three dimensional arrangements of sand, silt and clay.

Silicon was first incorporated into some of the earliest living creatures, diatoms, whose silica shells have survived to this day.  We mine these deposits for DE or diatomacious earth, which is used as a wormer and external duster for livestock.  We also use it for kitty litter and soaking up spills.  In spite of silica’s pervasive presence through the world’s sands and soils, little mention of it was made in historical agriculture.  The 1983 plant physiology book suggests that it may be essential for rice and millet.  A 1999 conference of silica in crops still did not class it as necessary, but showed it as beneficial to rice, wheat, barley, cucumber and tomato.

Silicon is taken up by plants in the soluble form of silicic acid.  It becomes polymerized as a silica gel on the surface of leaves and stems to form a protective barrier.  Affects of increasing the uptake by plants include; suppression of powdery mildew and stimulation of most other plant defense mechanisms against diseases.  Although seemingly in inexhaustible supply in soils of all types, intense cultivation can result in soil depletion of available Si.  The rice and sugar cane fields of Florida, and Queensland and many other countries have responded to added silica.  While I was in Queensland a year ago, research reports indicated an over 50% increase in sugar production with the application of calcium silicate.

Calcium silicate slag [CaSiO₃] appears to be one of the few forms that offer any response.  It can not be registered as organic, again because it is a byproduct of industry.  [The author finds this situation as rather sad and non-scientific and suggests the true measure of acceptability ought be based on cleanliness, bio-enhancement properties and contribution to yield/nutrition/ health rather than origin. Should we fill up our landfills [waste] materials that could grow healthy food for animals and humans because they are a byproduct of our industrial society?]

Much to my surprise and pleasure, one of the research reports of the 1999 silica conference was a report on silica in Biodynamic agriculture by a presenter from the Univ. of San Paulo, Brazil.  BD Preparation 501 is pulverized quartz (silica) in a dilute water solution.  The prep is designed to affect light incorporation into plants.  Research by Abele in 1987 showed higher yields in sugarbeets, and cereals grown under reduced light and treated with prep 501.  This confirmed earlier research by Kolisko in 1939 on 501.  Silica is important in the morphological and structural development of plants.  It also leads to greater insect and fungal resistance.

As you can see, minding your S’s can lead to more optimal soil, plant and livestock response as well as production of more optimum nutrition of foodstuffs. Shouldn’t our goal, as farmers/graziers, be to produce the maximum nutrition/energy possible in our products while being environmentally friendly/sustainable?

March 28, 2013
How Do I Begin A Conversion To Sustainable / Organic Agriculture?

By Philip A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

That is one of the most controversial questions you can ask. One paradigm would have you simply stop all inputs, begin a crop rotation and introduce livestock, if possible. Another paradigm would suggest you try to balance all your major and minor minerals within a one or two season time period. There are certainly many ways to begin but the question is: which way will get me to the goal I have in mind without costing more than my return on investment over the next few years? The complexity of that question is enormous.

Probably the most important issue is your perception of what you want to accomplish. If you do not understand what sustainable/organic/biodynamic mean, then it will be difficult to perceive a plan of action or an outcome. Talking to growers in your area who are already working in one of more of those paradigms is a good first step. Reading books by practitioners and consultants would also be recommended. Once you have a reasonable understanding of the paradigm(s)you want to begin working in; a plan can begin to be formulated.

Since there may be new readers, lets offer a short definition of each of the 3 most common designations for alternatives to “conventional” agriculture. Sustainable is a very broad term so the definition has to be broad. Sustainable farming means you are using inputs, techniques, and practices that will improve your soil over time rather than degrade it. The “degradation” that currently occurs includes; erosion, chemical contamination, loss of humus, dependency on artificial inputs and chemical rescue to get the crop off of the field and/or keep it in storage. Sustainable agricultural practices would seek to stop as much of the degradation as possible, make crop production more dependent on natural processes and improve the quality and quantity of the crop.

Organic agriculture seeks to accomplish the same thing, but it puts more restrictions on the source on inputs. In doing this, it allows for a set of standards that can be adhered to, verified, and used as a marketing tool. The input restrictions are based on a philosophy that seeks to conserve natural resources, selects materials based on origin or content and tends to be conceived as pastoral, natural or not containing any poison or chemical residue. Organic markets are expanding rapidly, so there is need for increased organic production, especially in the more difficult area of fruits and vegetables. With standards and certification comes cost and paperwork: Growers may choose to remain at the sustainable level because their marketing does not require meeting the standards of a wholesale certified organic buyer and they may be able to get a good price based on quality and flavor.

Biodynamics is a more esoteric paradigm that has grown out of the teachings of Rudolph Steiner, a German scientist and mystic. It correctly assumes that there is lots 6ee energy in nature that can be captured by various natural compounds, such as manure, when placed in natural shaped containers, such as cow horns. The material is composted in the container and the captured energy is then transferred to a water solution for spreading on soil to accomplish conditioning, growth, etc. Very precise mixing and spreading regimes are followed.

Biodynamics can be compared somewhat to homeopathy, but the two paradigms are not the same. Homeopathy captures the essence or energy of compounds at very low dilution levels by repeated dilution and succussion (pounding). Organic and sustainable growers are now starting to use homeopathic compounds for weed control, growth enhancement and conditioning.

The location of your farm is a major f8ctor. Some areas of the country have deep topsoil with reasonable organic matter and few mineral shortages. Other areas have thin soils with low organic matter or high or low pHs or high salt levels or low phosphates etc. Some of these factors could preclude you from the “stop all inputs” and the “balance all the minerals” paradigms. Two of the generally agreed upon principles among the different paradigms are remineralization and increased carbon content. What sources of materials are available nearby or what materials can be shipped in at a reasonable rate that can work on those two principles?

Let’s consider remineralization first. The size of your operation can make a big difference in the costs per acre of inputs for remineralization. Basic commodities such as lime, gypsum soft or hard rock phosphates, sulfates of potash, sol-po-mag, paramagnetic rock, green sand, kiln dusts, mineralized clay deposits, humates, compost or trace minerals may be difficult to find and quite expensive per unit when purchased in 50 lb. bags, as compared to the cost in semi-load quantities. Blended products containing the basics have additional markups to cover costs of the convenience factor. Farm operations in the 100-120 acre plus range can consider purchasing direct semi-loads of commodity inputs at good prices. This method can usually supply you with calcium phosphorous, potassium magnesium and sulfur, five of the six majors. You will also be able to get a broad spectrum of trace elements and or paramagnetism when dealing with basic rock deposits. The deposits may not have enough of the traces recognized as being significant to agriculture, so you may still have a need for separate purchases/sources of iron, copper, manganese, zinc, boron, cobalt and molybdenum.

The sixth major element is nitrogen, which is really not a mineral element. It is quite expensive to buy and offers the least alternatives for source for the organic grower. That behooves all growers in all paradigms to grow or capture their own. The most obvious grow your own source is legumes (clovers, beans, alfalfa). That sometimes presents a problem if the legume must take up a crop season and has limited market value. It can also be a problem when sufficient molybdenum is lacking in the soil to have the legume be able to fix nitrogen in its nodules. Capturing your own nitrogen could also involve the use of azobacter, which can fix atmospheric N into the soil without a legume. My consulting in Mexico has shown that a working azobacter system combined with small amounts of protein nitrogen can remove the need for the typical soluble nitrates and ammonia.

The sources of protein nitrogen are limited and some are quite expensive. Soy meal and alfalfa can be used, but the cost may be prohibitive. Liquid 8 % collagen from the leather industry is a good source, but it can never be certified organic because of the chromium used in the manufacturing. Blood meal is expensive and may have lead contaminants and cottonseed meal may have pesticide and herbicide problems. Liquid hydrolyzed fish appears to be one of the best sources, as it has reasonable costs, contains other nutrients and growth factors and can be used on both soil and foliage.

Sustainable growers can use non-protein sources of nitrogen such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, 28-32 % liquid nitrogen as transition products until they are able to produce their own. These products, when combined with carbohydrates (sugar/molasses) have continued to demonstrate that they increase bacterial activity and raise plant quality when used in appropriate amounts. It is wise to include some protein nitrogen with the manufactured N, because the crop will selectively pick up the protein N when it is stressed. Sustainable growers may also use urea as a foliar, because the plant doesn’t need to expend energy to utilize the urea the way it would if fed a nitrate or ammonia source.

The most obvious natural sources of N are animal manure and compost. Again, relatively large amounts (cost factors/availability) may be required to achieve an adequate supply for high nitrogen using crops. Now we are getting into the second major agreement point of having increased active carbon in the form of humus, which is a sink or reservoir of nitrogen. We can start to solve the nitrogen problem when we start working on the humus problem. Creating large amounts of humus without or in addition to adding/hauling compost/manure is possible. The missing factor is conventional agriculture for making use of the natural systems is the presence or availability of carbohydrate [sugars] as energy sources for the bacteria. After all, even conventional growers plow down corn stover or green manure, but….do they get good humus for their efforts? Research shows otherwise. Their residue does not get digested properly for a variety of reasons, but two reasons we can deal with quite readily are the absence of the right bacteria and a supply of energy that will encourage them to digest the residue. The adding of carbohydrates and a touch of nitrogen to green or brown crop residue (use more N on the brown stuff) sets the banquet table for the bacteria to have a balanced diet of meat (the N and protein) and potatoes (the carbohydrates/sugars). New inoculations of live/dormant bacterial cultures may be appropriate. The bacteria will gorge themselves, reproduce rapidly in the presence of ideal conditions and turn your crop residue into real humus. The humus will contain the nitrogen and other nutrients in a non-leachable, but available form for your plants to feed for the entire season.

Growers are always advised to do a year or two of sustainable transition before they begin a certification process if possible. This allows them to reasonably balance their soils as per Albrecht, biologically activate their soils according to Reams, increase paramagnetism according to Callahan and start to have the natural processes help them prevent/control weed, insect and disease problems. By not seeking certification the first year or two, the grower can have full access to the marketplace to accomplish the balancing and activation he desires. This approach assumes that all fertility inputs are bio-enhancing, even though they may not meet certain manmade standards. It also allows the grower to continue to use reduced chemical rescue, if natural processes aren’t working or natural products aren’t unavailable to solve the problem.

In my humble opinion, too many growers have lost too much money by attempting go directly from conventional agriculture to organic or biodynamic. I perceive this to be true because I frequently get calls that go like this: “I went organic two years ago on my soy beans, and of course, I had reduced yield. (Emphasis mine) Since soybeans are considered scavengers, the grower was not supplying enough nutrients/energy for the crop to scavenge, or he wasn’t foliar feeding to supplement the soil supply. Why would you change paradigms without preparation if you “knew” you were going to have a major yield reduction? Some of those who have depended on price to compensate for yield have been very disappointed.

So what is the “best” approach to making a change or transition? There is no best approach There are only multiple possibilities. You have to go back to the first paragraph and the question of goals and costs. There is little doubt that if you don’t know where your starting from or what you are starting with the chances of success and return on investment are not great. That is why most consultants and sales companies ask/insist on soil tests. The question of interpretation then rears its ugly head. Again, there are no right answers, only multiple possibilities. (However, there are some wrong answers.)

Even in the realm of testing, there are multiple possibilities. The one test most agreed upon, in the CEC (cation exchange capacity). The majority of commercial labs serving standard agriculture use this kind of test. One of the problems is that CEC test procedures may vary from lab to lab, and some labs make the claim that their method is the only correct way. Any reputable CEC lab should give you a reasonable idea of what you need to know and a well versed agronomist should be able to read it and advise you accordingly. Be cautious of computer generated recommendations that tell you down to the pound what is going to solve all your problems. Applying huge amounts of materials just to match computer programs may cost more than the return on investment in the first few years. Activating what you have is usually less expensive in the short term and allows you to work on balancing on a more gradual (less account draining) basis.

The second test being used extensively is called a LaMotte test when done by a certain procedure or a water-soluble test done by similar methods. These tests tell you the likelihood of your crop being able to use the minerals identified on your CEC test. Again, if the lab provides interpretive ranges for their readings, a well-rounded consultant can help you interpret your results.

Leaf tissue analysis is also valuable in pinpointing just what the plant is doing with all your attempts at helping it out. Radionic scanners can also be used to show energy relationships. These are very important, as general health and vigor of all organisms is dependent on resonance of the energy coming from within and without.

Using the data obtained from one or more of the above should allow you to begin the transition to the new paradigm(s) you have chosen. Good luck on your journey/transition.

March 28, 2013
Cutting To The Chase

By Philip A. Wheeler, Ph.D.

As graziers, the bottom line is pounds of meat produced per acre. Then you can refine that by talking about price for pound for “quality” meat and cost of land, labor inputs, etc.
Many growers pride themselves on efficiency and diligence in their choice of breeds, choice of forages, choice of markets and advertising, etc. What has been amazing to me over the last 30 years is the lack of efficiency and diligence shown by growers all over the globe in dealing with soils and plant needs/nutrition. I can’t totally explain why this is so, but several possibilities come to mind.

Chemistry has never been a favorite high school subject and many people find it as difficult or unfriendly as math. The chemistry of soil, fertilizer and plants is extremely important to achieving efficiency of plant and subsequent animal growth. However, during the age of chemical agriculture that began in the 40’s, the chemical model of soil and fertilizer that was presented to growers was simplistic, incomplete and sometimes just plain wrong. The biological nature of soil and plants was totally ignored and this continues to this day from many universities and fertilizer companies. And even tougher subject, physics, which forms the basis for understanding the other sciences, is never mentioned.

The plants in your fields can be thought of as factories. Although they are extremely complex, a marvel of nature, we can reduce them to factory status for understanding what we are trying to accomplish by growing them. The factories main job is to produce simple sugars. The plant/factory does this by a process called photosynthesis. Using an atom of magnesium located in the center of a chlorophyll molecule as an antenna, it captures a ray of sunlight in the infrared region and upgrades (increases its energy) to an ultraviolet frequency. Then it uses this energy to break a water molecule bond and combines it with carbon dioxide to produce a simple six-carbon chain sugar. (If your eyes are already glazing over, then you can better understand the paragraph above.)

Everything else that the plant becomes is made from the simple sugar. It can form: long chain polysaccharides (many sugars) that become the main structural components of cellulose and hemi-cellulose; enzymes and hormones that make the systems work; protein and vitamins to feed our livestock; sugars and starches that are even more important livestock feed (energy) and a long list of other components. Knowing this, wouldn’t it behoove us to do everything possible to make sure our factories/plants were producing the maximum amount of sugar to produce the maximum amount of feed/energy for our livestock to produce the maximum saleable product, meat? I will wager that a large percentage of readers aren’t aware that you can measure the sugar output/efficiency of you factory/plant by walking out in your pasture with a hand held instrument called a refractometer, that costs less than $150, or that you can dramatically increase the sugar output of your factory/plant. You are, however, acutely aware when the factory is under producing by virtue of your rate of gain, strength and speed of regrowth, etc.

The only way to consistently make the factory produce at its best in all kinds of weather conditions is to introduce biology into the system. Regretfully, conventional agriculture is the antithesis of biological/sustainable agriculture. When I first go onto a conventional farm, I find that the economic crop is usually in the 6 to 10 brix range. [Brix is the industry name for percent dissolved solids {sugars} in the fluids you are testing.] When I check the weeds in the field, they can read 10-12 brix. These means the grower has arranged his soil and fertility program to have the factory/weed function better than his economic crop/factory. Now this doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it is true in most parts of the world, where ever conventional agriculture is practiced. [In the few areas where it isn’t true, the soil is so highly mineralized and has such good organic matter that it can buffer the chemical impact.]

To change this situation, you have to change the chemistry as well as introduce the biological components. You won’t be aware of it, but you will also be changing the physics too. When you start using the appropriate fertilizers, you will actually be telling the plant what to do by means of the energy output of the fertilizer. IMPORTANT POINT: Plants grow from the energy given off or produced by the fertilizer, not from the fertilizer itself. Just ask a fertilizer specialist to explain how a plant can grow upward through a soil crust and against the force of gravity. The main chemical change to make to make the factory work better and to decrease weed, insect and disease pressure is change your emphasis from nitrogen and potassium [N & K] to calcium and phosphorous [Ca & P]. Notice that I didn’t say to ignore N and K.

The calcium and phosphorous can’t just be “out there” as indicated by a CEC test, they have to be biologically available. When they are available to your crop, all kinds of interesting things can occur. One of the first things you might notice is a significant germination of clover that you didn’t even know was out there. You will also start to see insect attack on broadleaf weeds, reduction of quack and crab or other sour grasses, reduction of dandelion pressure and of course, a higher brix in your economic crop. Your economic crop will have greater insect, disease and cold resistance and most importantly, feed value. If you give them a chance, your livestock will show you right to the line where you have changed things in a split pasture. Livestock will even rush right over and start eating when you are applying many of the “good” materials/plant food that are used in a sustainable program.

[I can hear your mind clicking right now. If this is true, why doesn’t the USDA, the University Extension, my local dealer/consultant etc. tell me this? Let’s not even “go there”. I think that politics and money are the only two words you need to consider.]

To help you understand, let’s go back to the 40’s or 50’s. I can remember my grade school teacher telling me that I needed to drink milk for strong teeth and bones. Milk is a significant source of calcium and phosphorous. Go way back to the 2nd century when they killed so many Roman’s in southern England that they made prison cells out of human bones. When the bones finally decayed the books record that, “and for many years thereafter, the fields grew astonishing yields of grain”. Fast forward to today, our teenage and older female citizens are developing osteoporosis at an alarming rate. They get excessive phosphorous from the “soda” or “pop” that interferes with the already low intake of dietary calcium. Dietary calcium is supposed to come from the food grown around the world by conventional agriculture that assumes pH indicates calcium needs. Get the picture?

Your livestock are similar to us humans in some respect, but we know it is their ability to turn cellulose and hemi-cellulose into energy for meet and milk production that makes them unique in the animal kingdom. Calcium and phosphorous based fertility programs will raise RFV [relative feed value] and TDN [total digestible nutrients]. The protein readings on forages may actually go down a few numbers, because the free/harmful nitrates that are counted in the typical test as protein will now be converted to amino acids and true protein. Vet and antibiotic bills will go down, breeding will be easier, calves will be healthier and your pocket book should as happy and contented as your livestock.

October 28, 2012
CSI Grower Grazier Newsletter – August 2012

GREETINGS: Hope you, your family, your livestock and your crops are surviving the challenging weather. Also hope you had crop insurance if needed. This season has certainly reminded me of the importance of supporting your crop at every stage possible. Current commodity prices should allow you to put a little more in to get a lot more out. We are hearing reports from our growers that they are fairing better than their conventional neighbors.

Six Times to Boost your Crops…

CSI thinks there are six times or stages in the yearly cycle that you can influence the eventual outcome of your crop, regardless of what Mother Nature offers.

Stage 1:  TREATING CROP RESIDUE: Crop residue is valuable food for next year’s crop; we all know this. What is sometimes forgotten are the disease factors that undigested crop residue can harbor.  It is important to apply and lightly work into the soil, residue-reducing microbes and sugar/molasses mi…whether you do it in the fall, which is always best, or in the spring before planting. The old rule about color still applies. If the residue is green and wet, it won’t need a lot of additional N. If the residue is yellow and/or dry, then add more N – preferably in the form of fish – to your residue-reducing microbes and sugar mix. If a green manure crop is involved, use the same biology, sugar and fish mixture, and allow 2 weeks for complete breakdown before planting your economic crop.

Stage 2: PLANTING. Seed treatment has been around a long time. I did it on my small farm in the 70’s using fish, seaweed and water. I would dry the seed on canvas after treatment and my plantings of corn could be up in 3-4 days. Some of the older methods of treatment also included magnets and Radionics treatments. Today, CSI offers several seed treatments containing microbes, carbon sources, trace minerals, enzymes and hormones. CSI urges you to consider seed treatments as a way of producing the fastest growing, healthiest and deepest roots possible in the shortest period of time. Think what that could or did mean to your crop this season.

Having a Starter during this first rapid growth phase is always recommended. CSI offers fish; seaweed; nitrogen fixing microbes; and micronized minerals with beneficial bacteria, fungus and microbe food included. If you use hot mix starters (true solutions liquids) we urge you to supplement them with fish, seaweed and sugar/molasses. We highly recommend diluting hot mixes with water and including microbes including our N fixing azobactor line from Blooming Blossoms.

CSI is learning from very successful growers in the US and Canada that one of the most import things you can do is add small, but significant amounts of trace minerals directly in your pop-up starter, regardless if liquid or dry, or on or near the seed. These include ¾ lb Manganese Sulfate, ¼ lb Zinc Sulfate, 2 dry oz of Copper Sulfate, 2 dry oz Molybdenum and a separate application of 4 oz Boron to avoid coagulation of the mix when put into liquid. Use this with the usual liquid starter of fish, seaweed and molasses. In the case of Joe Gorski, our dealer in Ontario, he sources food grade powders of these traces from overseas. This application still applies even if you may have actually done the right thing, i.e. broadcast larger amounts of trace and major minerals indicated by your soil test along with microbes and energy sources.

Did Joe find it pays off? The local area got pounded with a violent storm including sideways hail that made the corn fields look like Al Capone’s gang took the shotguns to it. His neighbor’s corn is curling and dying (at least 25-50 % lost with 6-7 brix) and Joe’s corn is repairing the lesions, running 17-21 brix and not yet curling. Joe called CSI immediately after the storm and we gave him a foliar recovery spray program that includes the usual great products of fish, seaweed, molasses and NutriFoliar (N fixing bacteria).

The third thing you can do during the planting stage is mechanical. Use a shank on the planter to make a deep, narrow trench that the roots can easily follow down to moisture. This trench can help during droughts. If you don’t do it at planting, you can try it during any early first cultivation, an early foliar spray, a side dressing or even as a separate operation.

Stage 3:  THE GERMINATION AND RAPID GROWTH  STAGE: This stage lasts up to 4 weeks after emergence. By the end of this rapid growth stage, the starter fertilizer is loosing its dominance and the roots have spread out into a much larger soil area. The time between emergence and when the reproductive stage begins will vary with each crop. However, we are all aware that the corn and other crops keep growing rapidly beyond the first four weeks. The trick is to foliar feed a growth spray when the small plant is really reaching for the sky, and then tell it to start reproducing later, which will become stage 4. This is tricky, as you don’t want it to go all one direction. Somehumorous situations have occurred such as when a mid-west sorghum grower applied 400 #’s of ammonium sulfate (a double fruiting/reproducing fertilizer) as a pre-plant. The sorghum only got a foot high before producing grain heads. On the other hand, Dr. Reams had to reassure many a grower on his program that having watermelon or pepper plants be smaller than they were used to when they started flowering to consider that what the grower was selling was watermelon fruit, not vine or peppers, not pepper vines. When I did consulting work in Ontario with an Italian vegetable grower, I was shocked athow small a pepper plant could be and still produce unbelievable numbers, size and quality when he had drip irrigation to keep the nutrients coming as well as adding foliar feeding. All you could see was a few green leaves surrounded by a beautiful crop of colored bell peppers with excellent brix.

A neutral or growth formula could be used once or twice during this period. Suggested products would be fish, seaweed, sugar/molasses, potassium bicarbonate, liquid calcium or liquid lime, balanced N,P,K,Ca,Mg,S blends as in our micronized mineral line, etc.

Stage 4: The reproductive stage with corn begins about 4 weeks after emergence with the production of an actual ear down inside the plant. Under normal weather conditions, nature will start to release ammonium nitrogen (a fruiting factor) and the nitrates will be reduced due to leaching or bacterial conversion to ammonia. Other natural forces will tell the plant to start the fruiting process unless you have way too much growth energy in the field. This is rather difficult to do in fields, but I have messed up several small plots by adding too much growth energy. Since calcium and phosphorous are each the main nutrients in their class (growth and fruiting) they both have to be present in the reproductive stage. The growing process can be changed to the reproductive side by the use of ammonium sulfate, household ammonia, fish (acid), potassium or ammonium thio-sulfate, sulfate of potash, K-35, vinegar or foliar fertilizer combo’s designed to do just that. Dr. Reams taught that adding a strong reproductive source such as phosphoric acid will chemically convert nitrate N to ammonium N.

This is also the time for potential macro & micro nutrient deficiencies. That is why we always recommend fish and seaweed in the side-dressings and foliars as well as a more complete, mineral spectrum product like COMPLETE or SeaStar for application at this critical time. The plant will keep growing, more ears will develop at each node, but strangely, the upper/later ears are the ones that develop for actual harvest. The number of ears you can harvest depends on your ability to keep the necessary nutrients (energy sources) available in essential amounts throughout the season. During the 5^th week for corn, a new leaf may form every 2-3 days. By the 6^th week, lack of nutrition or moisture can seriously reduce potential kernels and ear size.

Stage 5: Grain/fruit/berry expansion stage is when the plant is trying to fill out the already formed ‘fruit’: ears of corn, soy beans, apples, tomatoes, squash etc. Again, we have a huge drain on the energy of the plant. Foliar feeding is very essential and efficient. I can’t emphasize the need to support, hopefully, what is a good potential crop with fish, seaweed, carbon, nitrogen, mineral blends etc. I also can’t emphasize enough the use of our azobacter, nitrogen fixing foliar product, NutriFoliar. In addition to fixing nitrogen, NutriFoliar also produces vitamins and growth factors from the plant sugars that would cost a great deal of money if you were to buy them separately.

Stage 6: This is the final stage representing the last 30 days until harvest. Dr Reams taught that providing nutritional support during this period could increase yield by as much as 50 %. Think how much extra dry matter you could produce if every kernel of 2 plus ears were not dented like the end kernels. How about harvesting cherries 50% bigger than your neighbor produces? Potassium is one of the keys in the last 30 days. Since this is a return to a growth stage, an alkaline form, such as potassium hydroxide or potassium carbonate is called for, but K-35 (Potassium sulfate) appears to work well. Epsom salts (MgSO4) is sometimes used to reduce the nitrates that keep a crop from expelling the moisture and/or hardening off.

Fruit & berry growers should extend stage 6 to include foliar feeding of trees/bushes/vines until they actually lose their leaves or die off for the winter. Use neutral or fruiting mixtures as the perennial is going to be storing up energy for next years spring fruit. Fruit and berry growers should also plan to start foliar feeding fish, seaweed, sugar, blends, etc as soon as any bud activity is showing. The nutrients go right through the bark.

Finally we return to Stage one, crop residue and cover crops. Fall cover crops should always be mixtures such as radish, oats, rye, vetch and clover. Fall is the best time for soil testing, correcting the minerals and continuing bio-activation. Your cover crops will use your corrective minerals for food and you will increase their efficacy by tuningyour active humus to plant frequencies so your next year’s economic crop will find them easy to assimilate. Tending to every stage will allow you to reach toward your crops genetic potential and maximize your earnings.

Plan now for this late summer, fall and early next spring so that your soil is re-mineralized and bio-activated and your crop residue is properly digested. Make sure you have the materials for seed treatment, side dressing and foliars lined up for next year and your equipment is set up to be able to do at least 2 and preferably 3 things every time you cross the field.

3 DAY SUSTAINABLE AG SEMINAR: Jan 8, 9, 10, 2013 Tues-Wed-Thurs from 8:00-5:00 will again be held at the Best Western Hotel in Grand Rapids, MI – 616-949-8400 – ask for the CSI Seminar rate. Please call CSI – 800-260-7933 – to get your name on our list. Cost is $425 per person before Dec 1, $475 after Dec 1. Second farm member or spouse is $225 or $275 after Dec 1. Attendees will receive a handbook containing the 580 slides presented. Back to Joe fromOntario. He attended the class in Jan. of 2012 for the second time. The corn we mentioned is averaging 2 ½ ears per stock over 600 acres. Does he think the investment of time and money was worth it? CSI hopes to see you there.

SUGAR &/OR MOLASSES: Because the total amount of N fixed by CSI’s line of Blooming Blossom products is dependent upon the total amount of carbon (food) available to Bioplin, NutriTech & Nutrifoliar microbes, we urge you to use carbohydrates with them every time, whether soil or foliar. Some makers of bacterial soil products ask that you not put extra carbs with their product with the argument that the microbes may not do

their job of breaking down residue or some other function while luxury feeding on the carbs. If you keep the rates to 1 lb of sugar or 1 qt of molasses in the row and 2 lb of sugar or 2 qt of molasses for foliar, you can have maximum rate of N fixation and insure that your decomposing microbes will continue to do their job.

SULFUR, BORON & ZINC: The soil tests coming through our lab continue to show a lack of these minerals. Please broadcast them and get your soil battery charged! (see our Jan. 2010 newsletter for a more detailed explaining of each minerals important role…on our website!) You can’t go wrong using 15 – 20 lbs/A every year of boron. Your animals and crops would have handled this year’s heat better with at least 50 ppm Sulfur on your soil test providing higher rates in your pastures and feedstuffs. Adequate S also helps keep the flies away. You are not getting much sulfur anymore from the dirty smokestacks. If you want your corn to grow tall… apply Zinc!

SOIL TESTING: Late summer or early fall are the best time to pull your samples. Just use or copy the Soil Bag Tag in this newsletter. With our fast turnaround time, you will have plenty of time for purchasing and applying any needed corrective materials. Because of the nature of our minerals, you can apply most of them on frozen ground without loss.

ORGANIC PHOSPHORUS MOVES!: Studies show that phosphorous in humus and in microbe secretions is attached to carbon and moves (not to be confused with leaching) a lot more than chemical phosphate. Chemical phosphate (0-46-0, MAP, DAP, etc) seeks to attach to calcium which generally forms hard rock phosphate and is very un-available to your crop. Our biological programs insure maximum conversion of chemical phosphates to organic ones for plant availability. Our biologicals along with our Reactive Rock Tennessee Brown phosphate result in superior phosphate availability.

MICROBIAL DIVERSITY: If you are going to add microbes, make sure they are appropriate multi-species types as they all help provide a piece of the puzzle. Our soluble dry mineral powders and Tainio lines both fit the bill.

ORGANIC CONVERSIONS: While talking with a grower, he mentioned it was time to go organic. His herbicides were costing him $100 per acre. After reminding him of the fall oat cover crop trick followed by the spring calcium & molasses trick right after last soil disturbance, he breathed a big sigh of relief. He had been contemplating a couple years of alfalfa that he didn’t have a market for and other laborious and season consuming/no profit years he felt were probably needed to overcome weed pressures. Folks it isn’t necessary if you follow these steps: Soil testing and corrective fertilization, bio-activation & change to sustainable/organic fertilizers for starter and foliar & using the above tricks of weed control. Certainly, I recommend the use of compost if available and reasonably priced. Certainly, one year of 2 cover crops of buckwheat, followed by radishes and/or oats/vetch/clover etc. in the fall is a worthwhile step. But don’t dread the conversion, do it aggressively, intelligently and have an escape plan if nature fails to respond to your attempts such as cultivation or even taking down the entire field and replanting something else or harvesting for forage instead of grain. Remember, many of you who have not taken any previous steps toward sustainability will find that the weeds in your economic crop may have more nutrition than the crop you planted meaning the insects will eat your crop instead of your weeds!

CSI IS IN AN EXPANSION MODE!: We are in dire need of active dealers and distributors in US & Canada as well as foreign countries. We have the soil testing and recommendations that make conversions much easier. CSI also has the bulk minerals to replace any major mineral P-K-Ca-Mg-S as well as Organo Fish, SeaCrop16, humate and humic acid products, soluble ground minerals with microbes, seed treatments, compost tea mixes, liquid calcium, standard and organic liquid trace minerals, seawater solutions, and the best scientific breakthrough in recent fertilizer history, the Blooming Blossom line of N fixing azobactor in the stable cyst form that take gaseous nitrogen out of the air and provide amino acid, ammonium and nitrate to your plants for direct uptake through root or leaf. In short, everything you need to help your neighboring farmers except sugar and molasses or local limestone. This obesity-and-other-degenerative disease suffering country of ours needs your help! You or someone or some business you know needs to step up to the plate. Medical/sickness costs are breaking us. Our solution? Grow nutrient dense crops.

STRESS RELIEF PROGRAMS

The long time basic nutritional shotgun program for any type of stress relief has been 2 – 4 qts Organo Fish and 1 pt SeaCrop19 liquid seaweed. Whether it be too hot, too dry, too wet, too cold, hail, wind, and basically any other crop stress this program has worked and worked well. It can be improved upon, however, by adding additional inputs. Two preferred approaches come to mind:

–        Foliar apply 250 ml/A of NutriFoliar along with 2 qt molasses/A to provide additional N during this time of stress. This program can be applied any time and will last 3 – 4 weeks.

–        Foliar apply ½ – 1 lb/A of SeaStar because product enzymes will further activate the fish plus provide needed minerals and beneficial microbes.

Either program works very well. IF you think you still have time – Dr. Reams taught you could…  (See stage 6 above) – consider the following recap of each step: [In every stage CSI recommends the use of fish to stimulate soil, roots, foliage. The amino acids contained in fish can be taken immediately into the crop with little energy used to convert it to bioavailable plant food.]

Stage 1 – Crop Residue:  Crop Recycle is a fungal dominated microbial product.Soil Infusion is a bacterial dominated microbial product. Broadcast and lightly incorporate with your stubble.

Stage 2 – Seed Treatment: Whereas you could spray the seed with fish and seaweed and then wait for it to dry, an obviously easier approach would be to sprinkle Premium Seed Treatment directly on the seed in the seed bin at .75 – 1#/A. This will also help enhance cover crops.

Stage 3 – Germination & Rapid Growth: Premium Seed Treatment starts this process off. Broadcast apply fish and COMPLETE @1 – 2 #/A or SeaStar @ ½ – 1#/A and incorporate prior to planting with a dry planter. Better yet, use a liquid planter and always add fish with COMPLETE or SeaStar near the seed. Foliar with SeaStar or Growth Plus (Note: prior to seed formation, you can enhance the number of seed to be set via nutrition.)

Stage 4 – Reproductive: Most crops automatically switch to reproductive but this may be delayed and/or the grower may want to push this stage. In addition to fish foliar feed Bloom Plus which is specifically formulated to enhance the reproductive plant response. (Note: once the seed pods are set you can only enhance the size of the seed via nutrition.)

Stage 5 – Seed or Fruit Size: Most soils begin to run out of energy about this time. Sidedress and/or foliar feed IF POSSIBLE with NutriFoliar and Jackpot 45 – 30 days before harvest.

Stage 6 – PreHarvest/Covercrop/Residue Incorporation: Nutritional programs are the same as Stage 1.

(Note: Bioplin, NutriTech and NutriFoliar are liquid and OMRI Listed™. In addition to available nitrogen NutriFoliar also provides growth promoting substances like auxins, giberrellins, cytoninins, vitamins and pathogen fighting compounds. Some of the pathogens that have been controlled by Azotobacter in the soil and on the leaf surface include: Alternaria, Fusarium, Collectotrichum, Rhyzoctonia, Microfomina, Diplodia, Batryiodiplodia, Cephalosporium, Curvularia, Helminthosporium and Aspergillus.

Crop Recycle, Soil Infusion, COMPLETE, SeaStar, Growth Plus, Bloom Plusand Jackpot are dry powdered – dissolve in water and spray – and are NOP qualified. Nonorganic products are also available.)

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: Every species in every environment adds to the overall energy patterns and therefore to the net effect in soils, fields, woods, jungles, etc. New research on mistletoe shows their presence or absence effects many other plant and wildlife species in that location. Other research shows that predator and prey relationships, including death of a prey, can effect the biochemical reactions in that particular location. Everything is connected to everything else in our world. The latest research from Ohio State Univ. shows that the epigenetics (of the genes that are present, which are actually being expressed?) The expression is quite different in an organic soil versus a conventionally farmed soil. In other words, the energy patterns from an organic soil are different and plant response is different because the plant senses the energy patterns are different and responds accordingly allowing the plant’s internal communication system to choose to express different traits.

One of the ways this can help you get more nutrient dense, healthy food in the living soil system that you have set up, is that the plant senses that there is no need to waste time and energy on gene expression for handling large quantities of N in the typical conventional/dead system. The plant also doesn’t have to make extra defensive compounds that it would ordinarily make in the dead system. Therefore, the plant can take that extra energy and produce healthy compounds for the end consumer be it livestock or people. As far as I am concerned, since these concepts are all proven science, any continued government support of N-P-K simplistic nonsense, followed by toxic rescue chemistry is a crime against its citizens. Good Luck With That! Politics, money and multi-nationals still call the shots.

UPCOMING SEMINARS/TRAVELS:

Be sure to stop by our booth at AcresUSA Conference which this year is at the Louisville Marriott Downtown (call 502-627-5045 – ask for Acres room rate) Thurs – Sat Dec 6 – 8 with pre-conference sessions Dec 4 – 5. Call Acres at 800-355-5313 for your reservation now and save.

Dr. Phil will be traveling to Costa Rica, New York and Maine area and a western trip to Texas as well this fall. IF you would like him to stop by, give us a call at 800-260-7933.

17^th Annual Biodynamic Celebration and Harvest Festival will be held Sept 28 – 30^th at Long Hungry Creek Farm in Red Boiling Springs, TN. CSI dealer and biodynamic author Jeff Poppens holds these seminars every year. Go to www.barefootfarmer.com or call 615-699-4676 for details.

2013 Moses Conference will be held Feb 21-23 at La Crosse, WI.www.mosesorganic.org

TESTIMONIALS:

From KY: This was our first year using the COMPLETE as a root dip and foliar. I was very impressed with the crop resilience that I observed.

MP

From MI: We have been working with CSI for 10 years. Phil Wheelers’ recommendations, based on meticulous soil testing, have always been right-on. Working with CSI has helped us to grow high quality, nutrient dense vegetables. I also like knowing I can call Phil at any point during the season and he is there to help address any issues I might have.

Michael, CSA and Truck Marketer

From MI: We rely on the knowledge and professionalism of CSI for all of our soil mineral testing and humic products for compost tea production.

Joe, Certified Soil Foodweb Advisor

From SC: I tested some corn in the market garden and had 12.5 to 13.5 brix at the stem. I am so exited the energy is building in the soil.

Todd, Truck Marketer

From OH: In 2007 my Father and I began to transform our 280 acre conventional grain farm into a more diversified, and non-toxic farm. After 4 years of many ups and downs we reached out to CSI for soil testing and a more focused direction. We read The Non-Toxic Farmers Handbook and bought CSI’s Sustainable Growers Seminar DVD set. This is by far the most complete and professionally presented Ag DVD that I’ve ever seen. It has been very beneficial. We’re now entering our second certified organic harvest and have applied to become a CSC dealer.

Ryan, Cash Crop Grower

From MI: Transitioning a farm from conventional to organic can be a daunting task. The team at CSI have the tools and techniques to get you there…and beyond.

RJ, Organic Blueberrie

August 27, 2012
CSI Grower Grazier Newsletter – January 2012

GROWING PROBLEMS: In spite of our best practices we can still be challenged by Weeds, Insects, Diseases and Conditions. I will address each of these and give you some ideas that may help you avoid or deal with them. These problems can be worsened by rising carbon dioxide levels that can cause a major change in your local climate: temperatures, winds, storms, rainfall, snowfall, water table levels… Carbon dioxide levels are rising faster than expected.

By “Conditions” I do not mean weather or the balance in your checkbook. I’m talking about those visible (usually) conditions of the marketable part of your crop that would tend to make it unsightly or unmarketable. Conditions are usually caused by lack of a certain major, trace or rare earth mineral. Examples are Hollow Heart in cauliflower, strawberries & potatoes; Blossom End Rot in tomatoes; and Bitter Pit in apples – these are simply a lack of boron and/or calcium and are not caused by a disease organism. About every soil test sample CSI receives is low in Boron.

Other “conditions”, such as failure to set fruit (lack of manganese or excess growth energies); dropping of fruit (excess nitrate); “necking” of a squash or cucumber (reduction of the caliper or circumference due to reduction of K uptake); twisting of corn rows (due to a variety of stress factors); hollow stems in grains and alfalfa; etc., are all lack of (or excesses of) nutrition. Sometimes the nutritional lack/excess is caused by weather conditions and may not be visible without very intense crop monitoring. Sometimes the nutritional stress may be due to a new microwave system in your area or some company or device using frequencies that your plants have never experienced before. Examining the insides of stalks or fruits/heads/grains at all stages of growth is recommended. You can accomplish that at the same time as your brix, pH and ERGS monitoring. On high value crops, please invest in a tissue analysis at least once a season.

Insects and diseases are also nutritional problems, but the approach is slightly different. Your monitoring comes first and hopefully you will attempt to adjust the sap readings to prevent your crop from inviting in the unwanted guests! The sap pH needs to be kept as close as possible to 6.4 so the electromagnetic signals in the infrared range don’t invite problems. Although it is almost impossible for you to know the surface pH of your crop leaves, the arrival and survival of a fungal organism is dependent on surface pH being below 8.4. Above 8.4, the fungal organism can’t grow a hyphae or foot that allows it to penetrate the tissue and feed on the plant juices. The research was done by Cornell and a baking soda and seaweed based fungicide soon followed.

Our recommended approach if fungal/blight/rust outbreaks are occurring in your neighbor’s field is for you to spray with calcium, potassium, sodium, boron, phosphorous and/or seaweed to attempt to have the plant raise brix and have a high pH barrier against the fungal organisms. The recommended sources of the above nutrients are milk powder (calcium, potassium and phosphorous), sodium &/or potassium carbonate or bi-carbonate, (sodium bi-carbonate is household baking soda), sodium borate (Borax or Sol-U-Bor) and SeaCrop16. If you have some COMPLETE, or SeaStar on hand, they can be used along with the above materials and the same goes for NutriFoliar. All will provide nutrients and organisms that can crowd out the bad guys. Typical rates per acre are: Milk powder-8 lbs or one gal fluid milk; sodium or potassium carbonates/bi-carbonates-2-3 lbs; boron products-1-2 lbs; SeaCrop16 (seaweed)-1 pint; COMPLETE-1/2 lb; SeaStar-1/4 lb. Use enough water to coat the plant. You may have to repeat if rain washes off your barrier. Try to keep crop coated till the “fungus period” is passed. Note that I have avoided liquid fish in these formulas as they are very acidic. IMPORTANT: If you already have fungus on your plants, spray/drench with a 2.5 % peroxide or bleach solution FIRST! Wait till next day and then spray your protective nutrient barrier.

According to Greg Willis, fungi are present in nature to consume dead cells. Therefore, you can make the assumption that any plant being attacked is already nutritionally deficient and/or already has dead cells before the fungus takes hold. Using Steiner and homeopathic methods, Greg has produced a product called SSFI, Super Strength Fungus Interruptus that has been effective in stopping fungus already on very susceptible plants and allowing them to continue growth and production.

Weeds are responses to soil conditions: nutritional, structural, temperature, moisture, air spaces, humus levels and microbial type and activity. The least weed pressure will be experienced when you have mineral balanced, biologically activated, flocculated soil. We know that excess available potassium readings in relation to available phosphate readings will encourage broadleaf weed. We also know that low calcium content and/or availability will encourage grasses.

For years, growers have used a mixture of 2 gal each molasses and liquid calcium in 20 gallons of water/A as a grass/weed suppressant. The mixture is sprayed within 24 hours of last soil disturbance which is usually the planting stage. Savvy growers have rigged up booms behind planters to cover that step in one pass over the field. The same thing can be done during an early cultivation to give suppression until canopy cover. Liquid calcium is available from CSI in both organic and sustainable forms. This year, in our micronized mineral product line, we have two liquids that could also be used for weed suppression: Phos Cal 22 and Premium Cal 33. Both have been reported to be effective. I would still use the molasses with either as the molasses activates the phosphorous releasing bacteria. It even works on rice!

Experience has shown that the continued use of both our Nitrogen Fixing & Phosphorous Releasing and our Micronized Mineral line accumulates benefits to soil and plant health systems which can better help you avoid the challenges of weeds, insects, diseases and conditions.

NUTRIENT DENSE CORN: One of our Blooming Blossom distributers produced some amazing corn this year. Using a standard hybrid on long term improved organic soil with fish, Bioplin, NutriTech and NutriFoliar his corn produced 170 bushels at 10.8% protein; 62.5 lb test weight and 70.2 % starch. WOW! When he completes his feed analysis, it ought to come back similar to a high grade alfalfa. He had a very bad drought most June to Sept, so his neighbors were harvesting in the 70 bushel range. Who says soil building doesn’t pay off! Who says you can’t get N from microbes?

PRODUCT UPDATES: This year CSI will offer soluble powders in our Micronized Mineral line instead of wettable powders. They will now go into solution. Still to help avoid screen clogging you might use a blender/good agitation to solubilize them faster. When the minerals are micronized to the soluble level the efficiency is doubled. So the recommended rates are cut in half meaning where we used 1 to 2 lb per acre last year we now recommend ½ to 1 lb this year. The cost per acre will remain about the same since the increased micronization increases the manufacturing cost. Also the microbial counts have increased. We will also offer two liquid products (Phos Cal 22 & Premium Cal 33) that are still micronized to the soluble level, but handle better in the liquid form. Microbes placed directly in the root zone help a great deal, especially when fish, seaweed and/or molasses is added. Note, these microbial products contain Mycorrhizea.

SCHEDULE: Dr. Phil and Louisa will be in Acapulco Jan-March. Ron will be at the Moses Conference Feb. 23-25. Ron & Sue will be in the office ready to help service your needs!

Good Growing in 2012 Dr. Phil, Ron & Sue

January 27, 2012