This outline is a quick guide to the introduction of a typical highly efficient, nutrient cycling system. This will give you the basis for a highly productive and profitable biological based fertility program in both cropping and pasture systems.
Compare your current input regime, is it feeding the whole system, it is it sustainable?

This is based on the success we have had using the basic principles as taught by Dr Arden Andersen in Australia over the last 12 years incorporated into farming “Best Practice”.
Our utilisation of the agronomic principles taught by Dr Andersen, often in conjunction with the biological products that are made and developed by a number of companies we work with, gives us the flexibility to work within “best practice” guidelines in both Organic and Conventional systems in a broad range of enterprises in a variety of locations. These products are readily integrated with available commodity fertilisers and soil amendments.

A question to ask your-self: What drives your farming system?
Nitrogen?
or
Phosphates and complex sugars supporting an active balanced microbial soil with efficient nutrient cycling?

The following are outline programs that can serve as a basis for understanding the management issues involved in embarking down the biological pathway.

Yes they may be a bit different, but the rewards once achieved are truly satisfying.

Increased functional humus increasing applied nutrient and water use efficiency and holding ability.
Increased nutrient recycling.
Increased profitability, which may be through increased quality and yield and or decreased overall input costs.
Decreased disease pressures such as fungal infestation through increasing of biodiversity within the soil and on the plant surface.
Decreasing weed pressures through nutritional manipulation giving decreased chemical application with greater efficiency when used.
Greater alignment with nature.

- Review how such a program could be integrated into your management. Make notes:

Treating the whole farm will balance the nutrient requirements to a uniform level.
As the biological activity increases so to does the nutrient availability within the soil due to the increased microbial activity. This activity creates nutrient and organic matter cycling through the soil profile to increase.

Always:
- Monitor what you do

Understand the difference between conventional and the REAMS (weak extraction) soil tests and what they highlight.
Yes you may have plenty of P in reserve but it may not be biologically accessible! Similar issues with calcium and traces also.
“Different” numbers are not wrong it is just that you need to understand what they mean in relation to each other.
Monitor brix and electrical conductivity.
Monitor plant tissue testing.
Ensure the energies are balanced.
Look at trends. It is not linear, look at a change and teach yourself what precipitated it. Weather, nutrition, water stress…..
Soil test is just a set of numbers, follow a trend but focus on supplying a regular and total food supply to the workhorses under the soil.
Feed them and let them work for you.
Ask what is driving your system, foods and balanced fertilisers or simply nitrogen? Which in part is sourced from the organic carbon that you are using up over a period of time.
Apply good old-fashioned LOGIC.
Think from simple uncomplicated first principles - K.I.S.S.
Don't get educated by marketeers alone. Be aware.
Feed the bugs that will feed the plant for you far more efficiently than simple linear chemistry can ever hope to.
Biological food sources empower the biology to mobilise greater phosphates to give significant increases in sugars and other nutrients in the plant.
Remember increased sugars as measured by the brix meter decrease disease susceptibility and increase plant performance.
Increasing the biodiversity of the microbes within the soil will significantly increase the efficiency of nutrient cycling, both from that applied as fertiliser and recycling of organic matter into live functional humus.
Many little hammers make light work.
Educate yourself so that you can understand why the answer will come from a more complete “holistic” understanding with a variety of changes to thinking, management, inputs so that you can in-fact change the outcome in a positive and sustainable manner which inherently includes absolute profitability.