Growing healthy crops

Developing a biological / regenerative system requires a mindset shift around what we consider to be a healthy plant, and how we can achieve that. Canterbury arable farmer Nigel Greenwood how he uses a range of approaches to meet the growing crop’s nutrient requirements.

Video description: Nigel Greenwood explains how he uses both cover crops and a mix of solid and foliar fertilisers to provide what his soils cannot deliver.

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Nigel Greenwood: The shift to more ‘biological’ inputs

Nigel uses cover crops to mobilise and cycle nutrients such as phosphate, combined with soil and plant testing to determine crop fertilser requirements, and a mix of solid and foliar fertilisers to provide what his soils cannot deliver.

Some key takeaways:

• Nigel’s fertiliser programmes are very paddock and crop specific

• He has had great results using ‘nutrition from the sea’ such as fish hydrolysate and kelp products

• The combination of approaches helps keep nitrogen inputs relatively low

• Nigel advises that farmers are careful when starting out with foliar fertilisers as high product rates or poor timing can shock and damage crops

• Nigel’s first leaf tests for cereals are usually around growth stage (GS) 18 to inform any foliar applications before GS21 (when seed numbers are locked in). Subsequent tests and foliars are targeted to seed size and health.

Nigel’s biological inputs:

• At sowing Nigel often uses a combination of TrichoStart (trichoderma), Contego Turf and Contego ST

• He also uses a kelp product called Zelp as a foliar

• Both David and Nigel use fish hydrolysate in some of their programs - usually Biomarinus Biological or Biomarinus Organic which both have added biology

“For me it’s keep learning, keep sharing, keep trying… there’s no limit to plant health is there?”

Nigel Greenwood, Canterbury arable farmer

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