Over the last three weeks we have posed the question, what is your plan for a profitable farming future, one with lower input costs, reduced stress and profitability? In particular, we have addressed methods to reduce fertiliser and herbicide use.
This week we will take a look at my pet hate; rescue drugs – fungicides and insecticides. The ‘cides which really frustrate me are preventative ones. To me it is like going to the doctor and saying, “Hey Doc, I don’t have cancer but can you give me a round or two of chemo, just in case.”
We need to remember the ‘cides are poison, they are designed to kill. While the target pest/disease might be our objective, we should be avoiding contact unless it is absolutely necessary. Poisons, such as the ‘cides are not good for you, the soil, your plants, your employees, they are not good for you and if that’s not enough, they are not good for your FAMILY. From my perspective; do not use them unless absolutely necessary and given they are so easily removed from the system – just drop them out completely!
Remember the first thing we need to do is ask What? and Why?
We know our what, it is the insect and disease which is causing concern, so now we need to ask why? Insect and disease issues both occur for the same reason, it is nature’s way of stopping an unhealthy plant from reproducing. Once the insect, pest or disease attacks the plant then becomes part of the food chain, as nature intended.
Now we need to ask and understand why are our plants unhealthy and not up to nature’s standard? Almost all of the time it is due to (you guessed it), unhealthy soil, which is not balanced, has suppressed IMO’s (Indigenous Micro Organisms), poor aggregation, poor water infiltration and poor gas exchange.
The plan for reducing dependence on ‘cides is pretty simple, you just follow the plan for lowering your fertiliser rates. Depending on your starting point, you may need to still rely on manmade treatments for a couple of years until you can use natural insecticides and fungicides (which is nutrition and biology to grow a healthier plant).
If you are ready to make a start, the first thing would be to drop out seed treatments such as pickles, and instead you could add some nutrition and a bio stimulant. If this is too big a jump, try adding nutrition and a bio stimulant to the seed pickle for a year or two and then remove the pickle after a couple of years.
Follow the same process with any in-crop fungicides and as your soil improves in health, your plants will become healthier and a healthy plant can defend itself from pest and disease attack.
Plants were looking after themselves long before humans came along and will look after themselves well after we are gone.
If you would like to discuss your plan and how to start it, how to do a visual soil assessment, how to take a soil test or how to order soil amendments and biological activators then please call Luke on 0427 138 100 or Zoe in Western Vic on 0427 008 017.
