ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER AGRONOMY 11 “The wide range of biological products currently on the market makes it difficult to know where to start researching their true impacts. Around here, the weather is so much more than small talk. When you need your insurance to work, you need The Commonwell. Find a Local Broker at thecommonwell.ca/find-a-broker REPLACING MISSING BIOLOGY Achieving general improvements in soil health is nonetheless a critical driver. For Sally Bernard, co-owner of Barnyard Organics, an organic grain, livestock, and feed mill business in Freetown, Prince Edward Island, biological soil amendments might be a means of offsetting the negative impacts of tillage in their organic grain system. While manure does provide some compensation, Bernard says it was not making up for the volume of nutrients being removed from the field. Analyzing their soils through a microscope highlighted a soil community dominated by bacteria, with comparatively little in the way of fungus and other microorganisms indicative of healthy soils. Further learning from courses developed by American soil scientist Elaine Ingham indicated their farm was, as Bernard describes, “missing some biology.” “We always did compost. But we needed more carbon to feed the good bacteria and fungi. We started making different composts, but they were still too high in bacteria,” says Bernard. She and her partner then purchased a more biologically complete product that “looked like a pile of black sticks.” Afraid they had invested in something ineffectual, they were relieved when the sticks revealed significant and diverse microbial activity under the microscope. A liquid extract was created by steeping the solid material, with application occurring in-furrow at planting. In total, Bernard says $1,000 worth of the solid product provided enough living-biology fertilizer for the season, with some left over for the subsequent year. Whether repeated applications will bring about noticeable improvements in the soil remains to be seen—the Bernards are only in their second year of experiments with the product—but she notes the rye planted with the biological amendment had very good aggregation around the roots at a young age. “We’ve also seen mushrooms coming up in some fields, which we never had,” Bernard says, adding they will continue trialling and gathering soil health metrics to evaluate whether their efforts are fostering results. GATHERING THE DATA The wide range of biological products currently on the market make it difficult to know where to start researching their true impacts, says Jake Munroe, field crop soil management specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness. Like Stewart and Bernard, Munroe also says the impact claims made by some product manufacturers appear dubious in light of little or no independent assessment data. Some research from the United States appears to show little direct yield or economic benefit from a range of biologicals, for example, although Munroe wonders if the inherent complexity of biology in the soil, and the products themselves, might be causing inconsistencies in research efforts generally. Munroe does think biological stimulants and inoculants have some promise, however, given how many resources are now being committed to research and development. Read more online! Scan the QR code to read more about what Munroe has to say about biologicals, or visit www.ontariograinfarmer.ca. •
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