Managing soil nutrients with VicNoTill and David Hardwick – VIC (Video)

In this VicNoTill webinar, agroecologist David Hardwick, explains nutrient management fundamentals, starting with the goals of fertility management (balanced nutrients, healthy plants, and profit through optimal yield, not maximum yield). He describes where nutrients come from (mainly soil minerals and, for nitrogen, the atmosphere) and that different soil types have very different mineral composition depending on their geology. David then focuses on how nutrients cycle in topsoil and why cycling depends heavily on plant roots, soil biology, organic matter and soil structure. He compares the traditional ‘two-bucket’ thinking based on available and unavailable nutrient pools with the regenerative ‘five-bucket’ thinking which considers that the nutrient pools are soil-air interactions, soil solution, soil organic matter, soil colloid and soil minerals. David argues that plants access nutrients from multiple pools, often facilitated by microbes and mycorrhizal fungi. He discusses common fertility-management systems and shares his 5 steps to success. That is firstly, know the total fertility of each soil type and manage each to its capability. Secondly, optimise the nutrient cycling capacity of the soil. Thirdly, use a range of strategies (soil tests, tissue and sap test, visual symptoms, and animal and plant health and performance) to validly estimate the availability of nutrients. The fourth step is to increase the available levels of the limiting nutrients e.g. by improving the cycling of that nutrient. The last step is to manage soil fertility by improving soil health to improve the productivity of the soil biology, soil structure, and the cycling of nutrients. While this webinar was presented for Victorian farmers in the first instance, it is relevant for farmers and graziers across Australia [1:14:50]. #