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Sound Soils

Soils are living systems that perform an important function: to produce carbon from solar energy, suitable to sustain plants that can be eaten by humans and animals alike. The strange thing is that man, in his haste to produce enough food for the growing population, has lost the skill of taking care of this life-giving basis. Artificial fertilisers impoverish the soil and erodes it as a system with the end result that the mineral content of our food is not high enough and out of balance. The Network Vital Agriculture and Nutrition was established to promote farms with a more sustainable cycle of nutrients to a wider public.

It's all about soils
We demand a lot from the soil but at the same time we destroy it faster than ever before. A fertile topsoil is the foundation of humanity, because it's our source of food. Soils are living systems that perform an important function: to produce carbon from solar energy, suitable to eat for humans and animals alike (photosynthesis). Soils are the mouth of the earth as it were. To remain healthy she prefers to absorb food from the surface to feed her organism and perform her functions.

The strange thing is, man, in his haste to produce enough food for the growing population, has lost the skill to take care of this life-giving basis. With artificial fertilisers it is now possible to gain a high yield from every type of soil, even artificial soil (substrate) as used in greenhouses. However, the use of artificial fertilisers impoverishes the soil and erodes it as a system. As the roots take their nutrients from the fertiliser, the amount of humus diminishes. Humus is the complex symbiosis of micro-organisms, soil creatures and bio-active ingredients that makes the necessary minerals available for uptake by the roots of plants.

The condition of our soils
The history of every Nation is eventually written in the way in which it cares for its soil, as president Roosevelt once said. Apart from artificial fertiliser, great amounts of cow manure are injected into farmland in the Netherlands. Our cattle are fed not only silage but also compound feeds, made from soya and maize. On average, Dutch cattle uses only about 5-30% of the nutrients in this fodder; the remainder ends up on the field as manure. This manure tends to have a liquid, diarrhea-like consistency, because the compound feed interferes with the proper functioning of the cow's stomachs.This manure and urine is then stored anaerobically in winter, which leads to putrefaction and consequently the release of toxins. Dutch law requires farmers to inject this manure into the soil to prevent ammonia emissions. It therefore enters the soil in high concentrations and without oxygen, leading to the release of even more toxins.

For this reason, the Vereniging tot Behoud van Boer en Milieu (VBBM; Association for the Conservation of Farming and Environment), together with Stichting Natuur en Milieu (the Nature and Environment Foundation) has been campaigning for years to have the surface-spreading of manure officially recognised. At the moment the Ministry of Agriculture is evaluating its laws on manure that came into force in 1994. VBBM continues to publish updates on this ongoing process of evaluation (www.vbbm.nu).

Soundly maintained soils
The Network Vital Agriculture and Nutrition was established to promotesustainable cycle farming with a more or less closed cycle of nutrients. By giving animals more raw fodder and not maximalising milk yield, their excrements will have a more solid consistency and their stomachs will make maximum use of the nutrients. When this manure is spread onto the topsoil where it can decompose naturally, the humus content of the soil will increase, resulting in a richer soil life. Not only will the soil then release more minerals to the grass and plants, it will also act as a sponge (drought resistance), a water purifying filter (clean groundwater and surface water) and gradually become more fertile. The increase of the humus content is a very slow process.

At the moment there isn't a certification mark in the Netherlands to indicate to consumers the quality of products from closed cycle farming. In England the LEAF certification guaranties such a sustainably grown product. The next step for out network is to become a member of the European EISA Network whose members adhere to the LEAF certification system. Within the Network Vital Agriculture and Nutrition (NVLV) farmers who work with the cycle-restoring principle can be found among the members of the Farmers' Guild (formerly Platform PMOV).

Good soil management plays an important role in biodynamic farming, too.

Books on healthy soil management
  • Erhard Hennig, The Secrets of Fertile Soils
  • Teruo Higa, Beneficial and Effective Microorganisms for a Sustainable Agriculture and Environment (www.agriton.nl)
  • Roelf Havinga, Bodemvoedselweb

Means for improved soil fertility

Advisors in soil improvement

Suppliers of compost
  • Van Iersel Compost, high-quality compost for cultivation, www.vanierselcompost.nl
  • W. van den Hengel &zn, wvdhengel@planet.nl

What you can do yourself
  • Everyone who manages a piece of land can contribute to the restoration of the general decrease in soil fertility taking place all over the world. The aim is to increase the amount of humus, not decrease it. Improving soil fertility is synonymous with improved food quality. A deficiency in the soil carries over to plants and subsequently to animals that feed on them. With grassland it is important to aim for diverse and structure-rich types of grass.
  • For repair fertilisation you apply organic fertilisers, like ground seashells, clay minerals and stone powder (lava) three years in a row. Amounts that are mentioned differ depending on the type of soil, the initial situation and goals. Subsequently, organic manure / compost alone will suffice depending on load / uptake.
  • If you make your own compost, the organic matter can be incorporated into the compost, which means there'll be less manure to spread on the land and better composting.
  • It is not recommended to use organic fertiliser or slurry because it will interfere with the production of humus. Putrefaction, medicine and disinfectant residues, seriously disrupt soil life. It is possible to treat slurry with EM products in such a way that fermentation will occur instead of putrefaction.
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