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9.6 Recommended Books on Sustainable Agriculture
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9.6 Recommended Books on Sustainable Agriculture
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SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
I stock two books which provide very valuable practical insights and advice into sustainable agriculture :
Soils or Spoils : 21st Century Agricultural Technologies. David A Hall. Australia Print & Copy, Gold Coast, Queensland
AU$15 + postage [+10% GST in Australia & dependancies]
Will be sent as a C5 (229 x 162 mm) letter, 125-250 grammes (from Post Code 6009)
Postage can be calculated on :
http://www.auspost.com.au/pac/aus_letter.asp (Australia & dependancies)
http://www.auspost.com.au/pac/int_letter_type.asp (Rest of World)
David Hall is the inventor of EcoMin rock dust for soil remineralization, and the catalysts to promote the microbial release of nutrients from the rock minerals :
AU4802796A1 An improved conditioning composition
AU701719B2 Improved conditioning composition
AU8166694A1 Catalyst and method for production of same
AU8166794A1 Improved conditioning composition and method for producing same
AU841094A0 Improved conditioning composition and method for producing same
AU9417598A1 Improved conditioning composition
NZ270446A Catalyst composition comprising calcium nitrate, urea, molasses and phosphoric acid for stimulating microbe activity for the release of minerals from rock
NZ270447A Conditioning composition comprising a mineral source, basalt, bonding agent, colloidal mineral source and microbe stimulant
US5605557 Conditioning composition and catalyst for use Therewith
US5741750 Conditioning composition and catalyst for use therewith
US5743935 Conditioning composition
[View these from http://ep.espacenet.com/]
This booklet by David provides a very extensive yet succinct summary of the key issues in understanding and applying modern sustainable biofriendly agriculture [plus health issues that flow from it], in 21 Chapters :
1. Our living soils
2. Natures fertilizer factory
3. The soil's best friend
4. Elements needed to produce mineral rich soils
5. A soil analysis - what every grower should know
6. Towards understanding the elements
7. Good soil management
8. Trace elements
9. Heavy metals
10. Soil degradation and its causes
11. A bitter pill
12. Stopping environmental degradation - Make the rain stay where it falls
13. Paramagnetics
14. Living water
15. Artificial fertilizer & moisture
16. Fallow
17. More on the salt problem
18. Stock and their health
19. Food for humans
20. Longevity
21. Health is our best investment
Natural Farming and Land Care. Pat Coleby. Grass Roots Publishing Pty Ltd, Seymour, Victoria 3661. ISBN 0 947065 11 3.
AU$25 + postage [+10% GST in Australia & dependancies]
Will be sent as a B2 (275 x 215 mm) Tough Bagletter, 250-500 grammes (from Post Code 6009)
Postage can be calculated on :
http://www.auspost.com.au/pac/aus_letter.asp (Australia & dependancies)
http://www.auspost.com.au/pac/int_letter_type.asp (Rest of World)
Pat Coleby is Australia's foremost authority on farming without chemicals, and highly experienced and skilled in animal nutrition.
From her personal experience she widely advises farmers to develop their properties to avoid expensive disease outbreaks, and minimize the use of costly artificial sprays and fertilizers. This paperback summarises this in 3 Chapters :
1. The beginning
2. How conventional farming methods are failing us
3. Early settlement till now
4. How our present system affects animals and people
5. Using a soil analysis to improve your farm and stock
6. Land regeneration options
7. Establishing pastures, cropping and tree belts
8. Minerals in relation to stock and plants
9. Vitamins - useless without minerals
10. Natural remedies
11. Conventional drugs
12. Rearing orphaned animals
13. Diseases and their causes
As an example, one page from (Chapter 8 of) her book, alone, would be to a stock farmer, worth the weight of the book in gold(*) : (*)239 grammes, about 7.7 Oz ie about US$2,000 - see http://www.kitco.com/ for current gold prices, and convert to your own currency on http://www.oanda.com/converter/classic]
Proprietary Licks and Bullets - Effective or Not ?
Various authorities have pointed out the uselessness of proprietary salt licks and blocks, as they never contain contain enough minerals that are really needed.
On-farm supplementation, according to soil analyses, is suggested as the most economical method for correcting problems. The mixture below, in those ratios, has proved successful with all species, with occasional additions according to the deficiencies noted in the soil analysis.
A disturbing finding in several research papers recently is that bullets for various mineral deficiencies are not always entirel efficacious. In smaller ruminants both bullet and scratcher (this is a piece of metal inserted at the same time as the bullet which periodically scratches and it and releases some of its contents) have been found at post-mortem to be coated with calcium and therefore the contents have become unobtainable. Cobalt bullets have been mentioned especially. So if using this method make sure, by taking blood counts if necessary, that they are working.
Bone Building Materials
No matter what type of stock : emus, deer, cattle etc, unless they have sound bones the whole operation is a waste of time. There was much trouble early on in the ostrich industry because they produced very fast-growing fat young birds - there was only one snag - their legs could not carry their weight !
It must be remembered that four minerals and two vitamins are the bare essentials for healthy bones - and I am sure when we know more there will be found to be others as well. The minerals are : calcium and magnesium - found naturally in dolomite; copper and boron - found naturally in seaweed meal and as copper sulphate and sodium borate (borax); and the vitamins are A & D, both found naturally in cod-liver oil.
Basic All-Purpose Dry Mix Lick Suitable for all Stock
25 kg dolomite
4 kg copper sulphate
4 kg yellow dusting sulphur
4 kg urea-free seaweed meal
Mix well and put out in a weather-proof container so it is kept dry. Replace as often as it is used. This will tide the stock over until the paddock health is improved, and after that during times of stress and drought, and particularly after drought when the first green comes away as it contains very few nutrients indeed for the first few weeks(**).
(**)Original research by Dr George Miller. The initial phase of about 6 weeks nutritional deficiency is probably because the regeneration of the microbial population which mobilizes soil nutrients, is still in the induction growth phase.
Pat has also written books on Horses [7th ed], Pets [2nd ed] and Cattle(*), published by Grass Roots Publishers - click here to find out more;
(*) Being updated for publication by Landlinks Press
and on Sheep(**), Goats/Alpacas(**) and Cattle(***), by LandLinks Press - click here to find out more;
(**)Update of original editions published by Max Harrell.
(***)An update of the Grass Roots publication, presently in preparation.
You can find a very extensive list of crop-related books at Granny Smith's Bookshop.
Among the books I have purchased there for my own use which proved particularly good are :
489P * PLANT NUTRITION HANDBOOK: Organics & Fertilizers. Schoof (WA, 1990). 112p. Pb. Excellent fact-packed manual on use, interaction of all fertilizers. Highly recommended $16.95 [Just a general mine of information, albeit a relatively thin booklet].
487P * The POWTON MANAGEMENT Guide.2 ed. (Aus, 1994). 35p. Pb. Detailed instructions on raising this select Paulownia tree clone. $27.95 [A few pages are invaluable, particularly the Section on Tree Management During the Growing Season]
309M * MINERAL NUTRITION of FRUIT Crops. Bose (India, 1988). 773p. Hb. Again available, the most comprehensive source on fruit nutrition, includes temperate as well as tropical fruits. $59.75. [Very comprehensive and notes research result on many trace elements above the essential ones - often providing very favourable effects].
953T * Tree FRUIT NUTRITION: Shortcourse proceedings. Peterson (US, 1994). 211p. Pb. From the Pacific Northwest, 'comprehensive manual of deciduous tree fruit nutient needs'. Recommended. $44.95 [Chapter 1 : Fruit Tree Growth & Development, is brilliant. Rest of book struggles to match it.
501N * NUTRITION of VEGETABLE CROPS. Mitra (India, 1990). 442p. Hb. Comprehensive professional coverage of 30 commercial vegetable species for warm and cold climates. Recommended. $39.75.[Very comprehensive and notes research result on many trace elements above the essential ones - often providing very favourable effects].
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Frank Pownall : Sales & Marketing
FAX : +61 8 6380 1499 TEL : +61 418 364 880 EMAIL : frank@plantsfood.com
Visit me and inspect the books at 7 Allenby Road, Dalkeith, Perth, Western Australia 6009 [Home tel (08) 9386 5772]