By now you would have a good understanding of how dicalcic and Cropfine mixes work. By focussing on the soil life aspects, farmers only have to ‘oil the engine’ to have a very productive enterprise. However, nothing stirs the fertiliser nest than the raging debate over applying phosphate. When Joe Topp began crushing his first batch of dicalcic phosphate back in the early 1960s, the fact it only had 4% phosphate did not concern him at all. He knew more phosphate present would dramatically disturb the balance. And not once in over forty years has it been an issue with either Hatuma or its 5000 clients. The only people who have ever seemed to have an issue with it are its competitors.
Hatuma dicalcic works completely different to traditional water-soluble NPK fertilisers. While it is perfectly able to supply phosphorous and sulphur to the plant, because of its neutral pH it can equally complement the humus makers. By doing this, both the plant and the soil life have equal opportunity to utilise the applied phosphate and sulphur which ultimately becomes bound in the organic cycle. This is the simple philosophy behind dicalcic. And farmers say it works.
Hatuma clients have traditionally been questioned by experts as to how they manage to farm so productively, for so long, with apparently low phosphate levels in their soil. A simple way to look at it is by considering the sea. Seawater, with its slightly alkaline pH, only has minute traces of phosphorous, yet the sea contains an enormous amount of it tied up in the living tissue of every kind of sea-life. Likewise, in a living soil with a neutral pH in the top 10 - 12mm, any phosphorous present can be rapidly absorbed by life forms (microbes, earthworms, plant roots etc), and then tied up in the living tissue, organic matter, and finally humus before mineralisation takes place. This effect cannot be picked up by the Olsen P test. Therefore dicalcic farms often look to be low in phosphate, when in fact they are using ample amounts. In short, Hatuma clients are achieving excellent phosphate efficiency and utilisation.
Independent preliminary results from recent Hatuma trials confirm this. Based on corresponding soil and herbage tests, it shows Hatuma clients have low Olsen P levels (75% under levels of 13), yet their herbage has optimum |
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phosphate levels. By contrast, farms trialled that use acidic, water-soluble fertilisers require much higher phosphate levels in their soil to get the same amount in their herbage (75% of neighbouring sites recorded at present have Olsen P levels between 21 - 40). It’s not enough to judge the soil fertility of a farm by an Olsen P level found on a soil test.
When farmers apply Hatuma dicalcic, with its 4% phosphate in a citric soluble form and neutral pH, they are creating an environment in the soil where its life forms can rapidly absorb the phosphorous and transfer it to the supply of humus. Citric soluble means the phosphate in dicalcic is readily available or compatible with the plants own acid they produce from their roots. This enables the plant to be fed phosphate as it needs it, instead of being force-fed, ultimately leading to a balanced level of phosphate in the herbage. For up to 40 years these farmers have been merely replacing what they have been taking off their farm. Even more remarkable is the fact the majority of these farmers are only using very moderate annual applications of dicalcic to achieve this (200-400kg/ha/yr or 8-16kg of phosphate per ha/yr).
Fertilisers are an amendment to soil fertility – if natural soil fertility is low, then fertilisers are required. But when a livestock farmer has efficient soil fertility, through the utilisation of dung and urine, then the need for fertilisers becomes very minimal - as mentioned earlier, ‘oiling the engine’ with a soil-friendly fertiliser is all that is required. The humus can then feed the plant accordingly. There is no wastage or run off, no saturation of phosphate in the soil, and no high Olsen P levels. And this all can come at a fraction of the economic cost to the farmer. |