104 | Sustainable way to achieve resilience Recognising the direct benefits that flow from animals grazing on plants growing at optimum in fertile soil, Top Soils takes soil samples and sends them to the Perry Ag Lab for testing. Sue Russell Canterbury farmer Don Hart founded Top Soils, his soil fertility consultancy, after a search for an economical and sustainable way to achieve resilience on his property. Profitabilty, due to the fact that fertiliser and chemical costs kept increasing year on year without seeing an increase in prices for the crops that he grew, motivated him to seek a better way of production. In his mission to find a farmer-friendly sustainable, science-based approach to the issues of soil fertility, he discovered the Kinsey-Albrecht system which focuses on ensuring the correct balance of essential minerals, nutrients and trace elements are administered to the soil. The correct balance of chemistry alters the soil structure, allowing the soil’s biology to correct itself. The combination resulted in improved yields, dramatically reducing herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and nitrogen applications. The end result was a greater return on investment and profit. “For me, all I read just made absolute sense and it was backed up by thorough research, data, trials, observation, experimenting and applying the principals on my own farm. I could see it was the right approach to correcting the inbalance of minerals in the soil, through applying the Albrecht-Kinsey soil fertility,” Don says. Top Soils processing and dispatch facility is located on the Springfield Estate farm at Methven. From here, a range of products are imported, stored, to be blended into specific ‘recipes’ depending on the results of the soil testing undertaken at a customers farm. RURAL SERVICES » Top Soils Ltd Don calls Wanaka home these days and emphasises that all along, he’s been driven by offering a recommendation for soil nutrition solutions that are financially affordable. “There’s absolutely no point in offering farmers something that doesn’t fit the budget, so that’s always been the focus. It has to be financally practical for a customer to achieve.” From a very young age Don found himself farming on his own account, having attended Lincoln College. It was during these formative years that he started attending conferences and travelling overseas, talking to people about various soil health approaches. “I needed a complete new education of what really happens in the soil and its effect on soil, plant,animal and human health. This is where I came upon the body of knowledge first developed by Dr William Albrecht in the 1930s, which focussed on analysing the soils minerals and feeding them what was missing to maximise plant health and production.” Celebrated soil fertility authority Neal Kinsey then evolved this further in what is today known as the Albrecht-Kinsey system of soil fertility. “Its all about focussing on balancing mineral percentages, restoring microbial life and enhancing long-term farm productivity naturally.” Recognising the direct benefits that flow from animals grazing on plants growing at optimum in fertile soil, Top Soils takes soil samples and sends them to the Perry Ag Lab for testing. When results come in, they then provide farmer clients with a recommendation and a highly specialised mineral blends to apply. Results speak for themselves Testing and supplying the soil nutrients that are essential for delivering an alternative resilient fertiliser programme, for consistent predictable production, emphasizing soil, plant, animal, and human health. Precise nutrition, accurate analysis, and evidence-based agronomy. For independent advice, contact: Wanaka / Canterbury Don Hart (CEO) 027 432 0187 don@topsoils.co.nz Canterbury Sally Sim 027 321 3030 sally@topsoil.co.nz Canterbury James McCann 027 381 8856 james@topsoils.co.nz “It all starts with the soil test. We need accurate data to identify nutrient surpluses and deficiencies. It’s very comprehensive and picks up imbalances, surpluses and deficits in the soil. We say to farmers, that they don’t have to fix everything in one year, just make a start, and the soil will begin to respond.” Don is also very mindful that every customer is on a different budget and a farming production situation that is specific to them, and is happy to share his knowlage and experience. He recalls a conversation he had with a farmer who had a long history applying ‘traditional’ fertilisers. “He said to me that he knew we were on the right track with our biological approach and our fertilisers, but he couldn’t afford any failures. My response was to say ‘I’m not advocating any failures, your fertiliser programe is doing that all by itself’.” Don also points out that it doesn’t matter what the type of farming is, the basic minerals needs are the same. “Sometimes you can see results immediately, in one season, and its always the case that the sooner we start the better. There are variations of course as to how the soil responds, but it does respond.” At the processing facility the team comprises a full-time staff of two, along with two other very experienced consultants and agronomists,who support farmers with practical evidence-based nutrient and fertiliser programmes. Products for the blends is imported from local suppliers and from all over the world. Having been in business now 25 years, Don knows that the science behind their soil testing and the recommedations from those test results are based on good science and make a real difference in soil, plant, animal and human health.
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